Girls in White, Stained with Red
by Titania of Fairies
Summary: The drug is spreading. It's putrid scent wiping out millions in secret - falling into the hearts of thousands, and taking over their minds. It is fruitless to resist the drug, as it shows your best dreams. However one must remember, a dream only lasts for so long and eventually you have to wake up - yet Hinata and Sakura are the only ones who do. Soulmate!Magic!Mafia!AU NH & SS
1. Sakura Breaks Free

**Disclaimer: **I don't Naruto, it belongs to Kishimoto - _sama _and all of the producers and editors which helped create the anime. This is purely for fun and stress relief.

**Warning and Tags: **NaruHina & SasuSaku are the main pairings with NejiTen and ItaFem!Shisui as side pairings; if you don't like them, please don't read this story. Cold!Hinata and Fiesty!Sakura. Mentions of Drugs, Mafia, Guns, Blood, Death, Slightly Dark, Mentions of Abuse, Coarse Language, Perverted Stuff(Kakashi & Jiraiya), ships are slow burn.

**~ Titania of ****Fairies**

* * *

_"I am beautiful, no matter what they say_  
_Words can't bring me down." _

_\- China Anne Mcclain_

The original definition of a soulmate is; a person whose atoms are compatible and well suited with your own. However, as the years went on and words got warped in lies and deceit, there became another meaning of a soulmate. It became, the person that was meant for you. Not that this subject isn't fine, it is; however, the way that people begun to use it, isn't. A soulmate became a need instead of a want and most found themselves bending over backwards, just so that their other half wouldn't leave them.

That was how Sakura had grew up.

Most of her childhood years was lived in a home where no love thrived. Her mother, a woman who used to be so remarkably fiery, had tamed herself down, in order to meet the needs of her father. The pinkette remembered how her mother had once wanted to be a biologist, how she had wanted to tour the world. However, the moment her father had said that he didn't want a working wife, she had quit her passion and resigned herself to the job of a stay at home mom.

Yet, Sakura loved her mother. Through all of the flaws that she had, Haruno Mebuki was a kind and caring woman. She was gentle and extremely optimistic, often cheering up the younger girl with a few words and a smile. One, which became strained with sadness, when her father Haruno Kizashi, came home.

The young girl knew that her father wasn't a bad person, however, his morals on the other hand, weren't as clear. As a high paid hacker and software engineer, he was extremely busy and rarely spent any time with them. Sakura didn't care that about his absence in her life, however, she only wished that she could say the same for her mother, who would stay up all night, just to realize that he wouldn't be coming home on time. The pinkette often wondered how powerful a soulmate must be, because the fact that a single smile from Kizashi, could light her mother up like a firework wasn't lost on her.

It really must've been strong, considering the fact, that his disapproval, caused Mebuki to have stained cheeks, the following morning.

* * *

"_Sorry, I don't think that this is the right number, call again, never." _Was what was printed on her arm, in a deep purple color. Sakura grinned slightly, every time she looked at it. Although the words were harsh, borderline rude, the young girl couldn't help, but giggle at how silly her soulmate sounded.

The pinkette couldn't wait to meet him (Or her, Sakura wasn't really all that picky).

Then, the troubles started.

The young girl couldn't help that notice that Ino, her old friend, had started to become distant. What was worse, was that, said girl had begun hanging out with the young girls' bullies. The eight year old, found herself slowly pulling away from the blonde, the bond stretching farther and farther out.

However, soon, that was the least of her worries.

On March 28th, 2008 - Haruno Mebuki, died; exactly on her daughters birthday.

There was no happiness that year.

Mebuki had died when a drunk driver hit her while she had been crossing the street. That year had been dark for the pinkette, most of her nights spent tossing and turning, in anger and hatred. Her heart grew cold and her head, empty and she prepared herself for what was to come. Her father became distant, and she scarcely saw him in the house.

Why, her? Why did her darling, beautiful mother, have to leave?

It wasn't fair and it wasn't long, before she wanted it to end.

**…**

**...**

A year passed and Sakura's dreams about a soulmate grew even wilder than before, going as far as to think of whoever it was, as a knight in shining armor. Someone who would whisk her away from the cold confines of her house and the strict gaze of her father.

She knew that was impossible however, only princesses deserved knights.

She was no princess.

One evening, as she sat down to call up her aunt - her mothers younger sister, Sakura paused as she realized that she had forgotten the last two numbers of her phone number. It was a dull and a rainy night, one which evoked feelings of exhaustion and weariness from people. The pinkette was too frustrated at the moment, to go back to the kitchen and look for it, so she tried to remember from memory, and punched in the last two numbers - hoping that they were right. As the phone rang, the nine year old traced a few lines on her windowpane, watching as the raindrops filtered down. Finally the line was picked up and Sakura found herself blurting her angry words out, without waiting for the other person to respond.

"Aunt Fura, the world wide world sucks! People should just go die in a hole."

The line, on the other end, was silent of words and instead, Sakura heard, a set of muffled grunts. Puzzled, the pink haired girl opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, when a calm and low voice answered her call. One which caused her to sit back, stunned in her seat.

"_Sorry, I don't think that this is the right number, call again, never." _

Her cheeks turned pink as her hand pressed up to her heart, as the phone beeped once, saying that she'd been hung up on. A small smile pulled at her lips and for the first time in a while, she felt light.

Kind of odd, considering the fact of how she'd just been insulted.

* * *

Her father had noticed her dreamy expression and had demanded to know the cause of it, immediately. While she hadn't expected anything good to come out of it, she didn't think that he would shake his head at her and frown, before telling her that it was best if she didn't worry about such useless things. Instead, he wanted her to focus on her grades, stating that she had allowed her maths, to slip to an A instead of the 100% she had.

She had wanted to cry, that night - as all of her insecurities rose up again, like a snake. What if he/she really didn't like her(although it did sound like a boy)? She wondered, sometime deep into the night, questions haunting her brain. They had to like her, after all, she was their soulmate, right?

Sniffling, she had vowed to make them like her, she would!

So, she groomed herself. She became the best what she did and the best of who she was; she wanted to be perfect for her soulmate. _She could hear her mother agreed with her actions, sending a cheerful dark giggle her way when she did something right(she could hear it, whispering to her in her sleep, bathing her, in the exhaustion)_. Even her father started to recognize her, congratulating her occasionally and while she _didn't _care about what he said - she really didn't - it felt wonderful to be noticed by him. At the age of nine, she had become the top student in her class, winning over the teachers with a wonderful smile. She didn't have any friends, she didn't need them; after all, they'd just hurt her, like Ino. Besides would only get in the way, just like that idiot Uzumaki who always asked her out. Didn't he understand that by now, she would always say no? Naruto wasn't her soulmate.

Then, in fifth grade, _he_ came along.

He was perfect, just as the young girl had ever imagined. Short raven locks, with pale contrasting skin. Dark onyx eyes peered away at her, while pink lips twisted into a smirk. Uchiha Sasuke, was her soulmate, one which she found she hated and yet, adored.

Her heart had nearly thudded out of her chest, when she first saw him. Opening her mouth, she had been prepared to greet him warmly, when he responded first, shooting down all of her hopes and crushing her heart in her chest.

"_I don't need a soulmate." _

Those words, those haunting words, pushed her back with a fury which she couldn't even imagine. Her eyes stung with tears as he walked away, not even allowing her time to speak. She had almost died of embarrassment, running home and crying into her pillow. Finally, after a long breakdown in solitude; she wiped her eyes and rose her head.

Fine. If that idiot Uchiha said he didn't need her; then she would prove him wrong, and show him that he did. Nobody rejected Haruno Sakura.

Nobody.

She had been prepared to greet him once more the next day, determined to at least be his friend. However, that plan snapped when she found Yamanaka Ino, hanging all over him. How dare that betraying feline touch what was hers! Her anger had grown and she found herself fighting for his attention once more, acting angry and even forceful. Often, she resorted to using her fists against those who tried to beat her, giving them all a certain glare.

How dare they touch her Sasuke - _kun_! She was the only one who got to do that, after all, he was her soulmate!

So then why was the only thing she received from him, his disgust?

She didn't understand.

So she tried harder. Maybe he just didn't like tomboys? Make-up and diets appeared in her list, and everyday she spent hours upon hours just deciding on what to wear to school. It wasn't long, before it felt like her life was spiraling out of control. Her smiles became faker, although her tears at night, were still very much real.

This continued onwards for three years, each one progressing worse than the last. It wasn't long before the Uchiha hated her, and that he thought of her like every other girl in the school; foolish and irritating. Sakura herself begun to feel heavy, her heart breaking every time he looked away from her, anger hidden in his eyes.

Then, came the school project.

It was an assignment in eight grade, one which said that every student in the school would be divided into groups of three, to get to know and understand the concept that they were learning better. Their goals was to learn about the reality of the world, and find a way to thrive in it. They had a year to summarize it and give a report to the entire class.

That year...had been one of the best, in Sakura's life and it just wasn't because she had Sasuke on her team.

Originally, while she'd been disappointed about being paired with Naruto. However, after some time, she found that she really had prejudged the boy. It wasn't long, before her hard, annoyed, slaps, turned fewer and fewer, and her frowns turned into reluctant smiles. The preteen even found herself warming up to Kakashi-_sensei, _although she still hated his late tendencies.

Slowly, as the year flew by, she found herself growing closer to all of them, her screechy tactics, reducing slightly. Sakura started to find things which she had never know about the three of them, her mind covered in new information.

Then, one day, around three fourths through the term, it hit, of how selfish she was. Of how, worthless she was, compared to them.

Naruto had been abandoned by his parents at the young age, and resorted to pulling his own weight, by the time he was six. Not once did he have anyone sheltering him from the harsh oddities of the world, or the cruelness that was the dark. Yet, he always kept his smile on, through rain or sun.

Sasuke was the forgotten child of the Uchiha clan, always being overshadowed by his elder brother. His father rarely spent any time with him, always preferring to groom his elder brother to lead their company next. Not even his mother could say anything against the pain that he felt everyday.

Even Kakashi-_sensei, _had a past worse than hers, and yet, he was still far ahead of what she was - of what she wanted to be!

All of them - they were so much more amazing then her.

As the thirteen year old stared at the backs of the three, she found the urge to cry overwhelming.

She'd always be left behind, wouldn't she?

By her father, by her mother, by her best friend and now, by her teammates?

She didn't want that to happen.

So, she charged forwards, her tears rippling behind her, in waves.

This way, they wouldn't be able to touch her.

* * *

It was only on her thirteenth birthday that Sakura learned to let go.

She went without makeup that day and met up with her team. Her _sensei _had seemed surprised that she hadn't brought up the special occasion, however, she had no wish to ruin the evening with own troubles.

Besides, her birthday hadn't been something that she'd celebrated, for a long time.

The four of them had laughed and spoke together all day and not once, did she obsesses over the onyx haired Uchiha. Sakura even stayed quiet when Ami squealed and attached herself to the youngest boy, in their group. Naruto had laughed, but the pinkette had bit her lip and turned away.

If Sasuke didn't want to push the other girl away, she wouldn't force him too.

The entire day, she'd been receiving odd looks from both of the boys on her team, returning each of them, with a bright smile and a jangled laugh.

Really, what did they expect? Her to stay annoying forever?

No. She was done with that.

**…**

**...**

"Hey Sakura - _chan?" _Uzumaki Naruto asked, as the three of them walked alongside of the Nakamura river.

As Sasuke looked over at the blonde, Sakura giggled, while mentally preparing herself for hearing something that make her roll her eyes and yet laugh.

"What is it, dobe?"

"Hey...I was talking to Sakura - _chan!_" Naruto whined, before looking at the small grin on said girls face.

"It's alright Naruto, what was the question?" Sakura asked, her face slowly turning towards the sky, which was turning a light pink in color.

"Hm, why are ya acting so strange today?" The blonde asked, his head leaning back, onto his hands.

The pinkette would've lied if she had said that it didn't give her a thrill of happiness when she found Sasuke listening into their conversation, as well. However, her face showed no indication and the perfectly placed confusion on it, was very well acted, if she didn't say so, herself.

"What do you mean?"

Kakashi - _sensei's _eyes sharped behind them and Sakura could feel his overbearing eyes burning into her back.

_**'Well, it was nice to know that we're loved.' **_Her inner voice responded sarcastically causing her to quiet the other woman down, in her head.

"Well," Naruto said, scratching his head. "You're acting a bit different, then normal."

"Is that a bad thing?" The pinkette asked, her palms growing sweaty.

"Naww...you know what, just forget about it!" Naruto exclaimed, before a cheeky smile grew on his face. "After all, Sakura - _chan, _is always Sakura - _chan._"

Ignoring the pink hue on her cheeks, the young girl turned around, before seeing the incredulous expression on the other boys face. "How cheesy could you get, dobe?" He asked, rolling his eyes.

"Now Sasuke - _kun,_" The girl said, listening to her brain just once, "I thought it was really sweet."

"What?" Sasuke asked, but was overshadowed by Narutos' shout of happiness.

"Really!?" He asked her, peering up at her, with a joyful expression on his face, one which caused her heart to pang slightly.

Had she really hated him? The one person who was always kind towards her?

_**'You don't deserve it.'**_

**'Shut up.'**

"Tch. Whatever."

Grinning slightly, and holding the urge to coo slightly at his tsundere look, Sakura sighed, before shaking her head. "Anyways -" She started, turning towards her teacher, "What are we doing today Kakashi - _sensei?"_

"Hmm?" Her wayward teacher asked, his attention moving from that _awful, perverted _orange book that he was holding, towards her - honestly, Sakura wondered why he even read such filth. "What did you say?"

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but actually, it was Sasuke that beat him to the punch, surprising the pink haired girl.

"She asked where we were going today."

"Oh," The silver haired man said, shutting his book closed. "Well, considering the fact that today is a very special day, I thought that we should celebrate it."

As Sakura tensed up, both Naruto and Sasuke snapped their heads towards him.

"What do you mean!?" The blonde demanded to know, his eyebrows scrunching together.

"Well.." Kakashi began, grinning underneath his mask, at the way Sakura's eyes widened in worry. "Today is the last weekend before school ends for break-"

"Hell yeah! No more school!" Naruto screamed, throwing his hands up in the air, causing Sakura to twitch.

"Baka! Let _sensei _finish!" Sakura said, knocking him on the head, exhaling in relief.

"That you Sakura - _chan," _Kakashi said, shaking his head mockingly at Naruto, "You should learn from her Naruto."

"Aww…"

"Now _sensei, _don't mock him." The pinkette answered, shocking her three other teammates, for the fourth time that day.

"You're right." Her silver haired _sensei _said, his only free eyes looking her up and down, in a confused fashion, before it dawned in a strange way of understanding. He reached out his hand, and ignored her flinch, when he placed it on her head. "Sorry Sakura."

Sakura, not Sakura - _chan. _

The girl in question smiled, it seemed that her _sensei _realized her change. Good, that was good, right? He would now know how awesome she was going to become, right? He would now know that she was not willing to be left behind? It was a good thing, of course it was, but then why? Why, did her heart hurt?

Maybe it was because, he would never see her the same.

"Anyways…" She continued onwards, clearing her throat, and ignoring the pink hue that rose to her cheeks, "What are we doing today again?"

"Oh that….."

"You forgot _again_, didn't you _sensei?_" The lone Uchiha on their team asked, his mouth forming an annoyed grimace.

"Well I thought we could go visit Tora, after all, he must be lonely..."

Ignoring Naruto's shriek of denial, and the groan that was dragged from Sasuke's lips, Sakura smiled brightly, her heart feeling light and airy, from the whole aura of it all.

Although she didn't show it a lot, Sakura very much loved her teammates.

...

...

The moonlight lit up the night sky, as the stars gleamed from above. The pink haired young teenager sighed, as she ran her hands up and down her full sleeved shirt, ignoring the cold air, that hit her body. A puff of air escaped her lips, as she closed her eyes, exhaustion pressing onto her shoulders, while her head lifted in pride. She had resisted fangirling over the Uchiha, all day, something which, was noteworthy to her.

**_Heh_**. Sakura knew she couldn't change herself overnight... but how she acted today, was a far cry from last month, or even, hell, last week. If she kept this up, it wouldn't be long, before she completely stopped thinking about him. What a relief that would be - it would be easier for her to stop obsessing over him.

To stop liking him, on the other hand, was something, she wasn't sure would ever be able to let go.

As for love, well, what did she know about love anyways? All she was doing, was copying what her mother did for her father, and hoping for the best result. Well, it wasn't working, and Sakura was _done, _being someone who she wasn't. It would take some time - years, quite possibly - for her to become herself again, however, she was prepared to do whatever it took.

Whether her soulmate liked it or not.

"Sakura." A voice spoke from behind her, causing the young girl to whip around, tensed. What she hadn't expected, was a blanket to be thrown onto her face.

"Wha-" She started to say, but was cut off, by the object of her suppressed affections.

"Don't stay outside for long. You'll get a cold, _Usuratonkachi_."

By the time she had taken the blanket off of her face, the broody boy was already gone, leaving her and her pink cheeks, behind. Raising a fist to her chest, the young girl inhaled deeply, trying to ignore the fast pulse of her heart and the lack of air in her lungs. Shuddering, her eyes twitched, as she tried to steady her voice.

Fuck this. Honestly, just when she was trying to get over him, he started doing stupid things like this. How dare he! Didn't he realize how hard she was trying? Couldn't he see, all of the effort she spent, just to make sure that she didn't smother him? She just wanted to give him space, and herself, some time, to understand what exactly she wanted to do with her life. Who she wanted to become, as a person. Was that really too much to ask?

What would her father do in this situation-

Sakura chocked at that thought, before tears began to slip down her eyes. The young girl furiously wiped her face, desperately trying to stop herself from crying, after all, nothing good ever came out of it. Really, it had been years since, she had last thought of what her father would want her to do, what had brought it up now? No that was a lie, everyday she lived, was something made by her father. Shaking her head, the pinkette sighed, as her stained cheeks faced the scenery in front of her, her mind whirling in old memories, ones which she wished, she could filter out.

It didn't matter, she finally realized. _It didn't matter, _what her father would've thought, because he wasn't Sakura. The only thing that mattered, was what Sakura thought, and what Sakura thought, Sakura would do. She was done, fulfilling her others needs and wants.

**_'Now then,' _**Her inner voice whispered towards her, causing her to calm down and think**_ 'What should we _**_**think about this situation.' **_

Finally, she settled on one thing, that made her palms unconsciously sweaty, and her heart race slightly. Honestly, there really was no other answer, as there was nothing that the young boy could ever gain from doing something like that - (other than the fact that he wanted to get on her good side, but that was highly unlikely) - so the answer was fairly simple.

He was just being nice.

With a smile playing on her lips, Sakura bent her head downwards, her hair shaking into her vision. Really, he constantly surprised her, by doing small, minor things, such as this. However, she couldn't say that she hated him for it.

After all, that was why she fell for him, in the first place.

Rubbing her eyes once more, Sakura sighed, before pulling the blanket over her arms, relishing in the warmth that she gained from it. Ignoring her urge to cry once more, the young girl winced, as a familiar ache formed in her stomach.

Damn. She was hungry again - well, it was good thing she wasn't dieting anymore.

...

...

"I want to be a doctor."

Haruno Kizashi, stared at his thirteen year old daughter, his eyes slightly widened, at her statement. Slowly, setting down his pen, the man took off his glasses and ruffled his head, his hair falling limp against his face. With his light green eyes, he took in the frame of his daughter, his face softening, when he saw the diffident look in her eyes. Her posture was rigid, almost like a tree that would budge, and her arms were clenched towards her sides, the palms of them white - with crescents due to her nails.

"Why?" He asked, watching as Sakura's posture slackened, and a sliver of confusion entered her eyes. Really now, he knew he wasn't the best father one could have, but he liked to think that he was average and would actually give his daughter a chance to speak.

"W - Well..." His daughter started, before clearing her throat. "I want to help people, if I do that, maybe, _maybe, _i'll be able to prevent what happened to..kaa - _san_."

Inhaling sharply, the older man, sighed into his hand, as he raised his eyebrow towards his daughter. Finally, he shook his head, before cracking his neck, contemplating the following two questions.

"You won't be able to save everyone, you know." He finally replied, waiting until the younger girl began fidgeting.

"I know." Sakura said, almost instantly after. "But i'm going to try."

"What if, I don't approve?"

At this, the young girl bit her lip, before straightening up her spine, and looking Kizashi straight in the eye. Her hands folded together in the front of her body, as her head was held high, higher than it ever had been in front of him before. "It...it doesn't matter if you don't agree. This is my life and I will do what I want with it! I just told you, because - because family should support each other. Even if you say no, i'll become a medic by my-"

The young girl was cut off, by her father putting his hand on her shoulder. Flinching slightly, she turned to look at him, her eyes exceptionally wide. "Calm down Sakura." Kizashi said, smiling ever so slightly. "I'll support you, no matter what you do."

"B - But-" The younger girl spluttered. "But you just said-"

"Ah. Sorry about that, however, I had to make sure that you were serious about your goals." The other man finally uttered, smiling softly at his daughter.

"I - I, I am." The pinkette finally said, her face gaining a slight hint of color back.

Her father shook his head, his smile turning rueful. "I know you are. It seems that just yesterday, you were dreaming of your soulmate and yet, you've already changed so much. You've grown Sakura."

"I..." The young girl was at a loss of words, tears welled in her eyes. "Tou - _san..." _

All those years, she had thought that he was scorning her, and was disappointed her for surviving when her mother didn't. Yet, here he was - giving her the very words which she had yearned for.

Didn't he hate her...no, that wasn't right, he didn't hate her - in fact, the pinkette remembered the times where she had a late project and would fall asleep, only to wake up in her bed. She remembered that whenever she was in a bad mood, her aunt would appear unexpected, on their doorstep a smile on her face. Whenever she asked her how she got their, she smiled, and said that her father needed help - only for her father to never appear during their bonding time.

Even when he scolded her for daydreaming over her soulmate, it had been done out of the worry in his heart - one that said the if she didn't stop, that she would slip too far.

Ignoring the way her father squawked in surprise, Sakura launched herself at him, a loud sob tearing itself out of her throat. Her arms circled around her waist, as she buried her face into his chest - warmth radiating off of his body, as he raised his arms to hold her as well, if not albeit awkwardly. This. This is what she had been missing for the most of her life.

She had finally gotten was she had wanted.

Smiling softly, the pinkette only buried herself deeper into her fathersembrace, when he kissed her head softly. Inhaling deeply, the younger closed her eyes as she realized that this was now a new chapter in her life - a new future.

Sakura knew that she couldn't forgive him that easily, after all, he had ignored both her mother and her, for half of her life, but it was was a start and he was actually making an effort to try.

"I know I don't say enough, but I want you to know that I mean it, when I say that I love you."

And sometimes, that was all it took.

* * *

So it was decided.

Sakura sighed, as she stared up into the empty area around her, the fireworks bursting in air - lighting up the now dark and starless sky. The sounds echoed in her ears as she closed her eyes, in order to capture that moment in her memory. Snow lightly dusted around her, making her body shiver slightly - although most of it was warm because of the ridiculous amount of layers she was wearing. Her dark red yukata swirled around her legs, as the binding clung tightly around her waist, fastening itself towards her stomach. Flowers flowed from the top of the clothing, to the bottom - the embroidered petals standing out with their orange glow. The side of her yukata was heavy, due to the wrapped parcel which was kept there - one which caused her conflicting emotions. Her green eyes peeked out from the newly cut bangs of her hair, as her neck felt free, from the newest change in her appearance.

She had cut her hair.

The previous waist length pink hair was chopped off into a straight bob, leaving wisps of it near the top portion of her neck. Newly shaped bangs framed her face, causing them to shadow over the tops of her eyes, changing the way she exposed her emotions.

Cutting of her hair was a major challenge for her.

It had taken her days to convince herself into doing it, and even as she had stared at her reflection in the mirror, she'd been having doubts. Every time she rose her shaking hands to cut off another strand of her precious hair, a wail had escaped from her mouth. She had to repeatedly tell herself that it was just hair, so that she could calm down. It seemed to take forever, however soon, most of her hair hand been chopped off, surrounding her body on the floor - and her shoulders had been trembling slightly. She had then, taken a deep breath before wiping off the trail of tears which had stuttered out of her eyes, before smiling at herself in the mirror, her eyes red and puffy. Her shoulders relaxed slightly and her heart beat softly, as her skull moved back and forth - relishing in the sudden weightlessness that was formed on her head.

So that was it then, another tie had been cut.

"You seem distracted."

Snapping her head to the side, Sakura jumped slightly - her memory fading away as she smiled at the figure of her soulmate. "Ah, Sasuke - _kun. _Sorry, I didn't hear you coming."

Short ebony lock were pulled back from the thirteen year olds face, leaving more of his already aristocratic features to be highlighted from the lights. His body was clothed with a long black kimono, the ends of them, tied together with a shining white obi. His eyes flashed as they roamed over her figure, causing her heart to grow warm.

"Hn." The onyx haired Uchiha responded, before pining her face with a weird look. "You cut your hair. Why?"

The question was tinged curiosity, one which Sakura resisted the urge to smile at. Ah, so it seemed that even Sasuke knew the ridiculous rumor about how he only like girls with long hair. The pinkette herself couldn't help, but scoff at that rumor, even thought she was one of the many which had followed in religiously. It was stupid, after all, one should love someone because of their personality not looks.

She was glad that she'd finally learned that lesson.

Letting out a light chuckle, Sakura shook her head, before talking. "Well, I just felt that it was time for a change."

The younger boy remained silent, as the older thirteen year old partially turned back around, before placing a hand onto the railing, which stopped her from falling into the wide lake bellow them. A smile tugged at her lips, as she felt the boy walk up next to her - managing to capture his own movement through the corner of her eyes.

"It looks nice." He finally said, causing her heart to stutter to a stop.

_'This boy.' _The emerald eyed girl thought, now outright staring at him - just managing to catch the slight hint of pink on his cheeks, as he turned his head in the opposite direction. He was just too precious for words, wasn't he? Her beating heart and warm cheeks certainly said so.

Smiling gratefully at him, Sakura swiped most of her hair out of her face, before trying to calm her racing heart - surprisingly, it was easier than she had expected it to be. "Thank you, Sasuke - _kun._" She finally said, watching as he grunted slightly, causing her to laugh softly.

Really, it was nice to be around him when he wasn't ignoring her and she wasn't fangirling over him - it almost felt right, the pinkette realized as she relaxed her tensed shoulders ever so slightly. Maybe this was the reason her motherloved being with her father_._

"Where are Naruto and Kakashi-_sensei_? Didn't they come with you?" Sakura asked, before craning her head to try and see them over the large crowd behind her - however, her attempts had no luck and she was left with staring at the Uchiha.

Not that there was any problem with that.

"No." The Uchiha said, before hesitating and continuing. "The dobe wanted to go to the eating competition - he said that he would win."

"Idiot. That sounds like him." Sakura said fondly, before shaking her head. "Let me guess, Kakashi-_sensei _went after him, in order to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid."

"Yes."

Sakura sighed, a rueful smile coating onto her face. "Thought so." Suddenly, confusion struck her, as she turned to stare at the onyx haired boy. "Then why did you come here?"

"I was looking for you." Sasuke said simply, causing the pinkette to tilt her head, once more.

"What? Why?" Sakura asked, clueless. Had it been four months ago she'd probably been leaping for joy by this time. However, with her new attitude, all it did was make her confused.

"You..." He seemingly trailed off, before starting again. "No reason."

"I see." The thirteen year old replied softly, peering at the younger boy. As she scanned the ebony eyed boy from top to bottom, the realization that she wasn't wearing heels and was looking _down _at him, made her pause in shock.

_**'We're... actually taller than him. HA HA! Take that arrogant, egotistic, Uchiha!'**_ Her inner voice shouted vindictively, causing her to wince before cracking a smile at the statement.

The onyx haired boy, stared at her for a few minutes, before shaking his head softly. Gritting his teeth, he turned around, before huffing, his lips pulling into a pout (not that he'd ever admit it) - one which Sakura knew exactly what caused it. Sasuke would never admit it, but this new change of hers unnerved him, making it hard for him to know how to act around her. Before he could be cold and snappy, because he had a reason, but not, that could be considered as hostile - something which the Uchiha couldn't let their children seem like.

"So, I heard you were going to Konoha High School." The pinkette finally said, before smiling a bit bigger. "You must be excited, it's a very prestigious school, isn't it? I heard that they ranked number one, in the ranking list last year." The tightly wrapped package moved against her leg, causing her to shift slightly - as she didn't want it to fall out.

"Hn." Sasuke said, tilting his head, something which Sakura learned to take as acceptance. "They did. The dobe got in too. I don't know how, his grades used to suck from hell to back."

"Naruto probably got in due to the athletics program, I wouldn't put it past him to get in due to something sneaky like that." Sakura reasoned, watching as the Uchiha grunted once more. "Besides, you have to admit that they've been getting better ever since Kakashi-_sensei,_ Kushina - _san _and I began to tutor him."

Imagine her shock when Naruto _wasn't _an orphan and _hadn't _been abandoned. Apparently, due to a failed kidnapping scheme (probably due to the fact that Minato - _san _was the leader of Namikaze Corporate), Naruto had been taken from his family at a young age and pushed onto the streets.

To say Sakura was angry was an understatement, what family let their own son become kidnapped!? Furious, she'd gone to have a word with the couple who called themselves his so called 'parents' (as she already considered the boy an annoying younger brother - not that _she'd _ever admit it), only to be greeted with honest faces and the truth.

Kushina - _san _and Minato - _san _were truthful - they didn't expect forgiveness easily, but they were prepared to earn it. Not to mention, they had been searching for Naruto for over seven years. However, it was only when Kakashi-_sensei_ talked about how Naruto was one of his new students, did they manage to realize who he was, and find him. (It was ironic, considering the fact that the couple was close to the Uchiha family as well). The blonde took like a fish to water to the family, even calling the little girl that the couple adopted, as his own sister.

That was all it took for her to sigh and begrudgingly let the whole thing go, thinking that she'd forget about them in no time - only for the couple to become like relatives to herself. Honestly, the amount of times she stayed over at their house, one could almost imagine that she was their daughter, something which while they didn't mind, she wasn't quite ready to think about. She had her father and that was enough, but it was nice to have another aunt and uncle - especially ones who understood her.

Suddenly, a angry tick mark appeared above her eye, as she began rubbing her arms together, in a perilous manner. "He _has _been getting better grades **_right_**!?" Anger formed her mind at the prospect that the blonde had been lying to them.

Sasuke swallowed, before hastily replying, trying to calm her down. By now, even he knew of her horrid temper, considering the fact that sometimes it had been centered on him. After all, while Naruto was a dobe, he didn't deserve total hell in human form. "His overall grade has been raised from a F to a B plus."

"Good." Sakura said, her thorns instantly residing. "That's good."

A silence descended on the two of them, one which wasn't heavy nor suffocating. In fact, the pinkette rather enjoyed it, as it gave her a moment to center her thoughts. Only for the silence to be broken, as the Uchiha narrowed his eyes and turned towards her, confusion in his voice.

"Wait, why are you asking me about Konoha High? Didn't you get in? One would think that with your grades, you would have no problem."

"Why Sasuke." Sakura spoke, with her lips turning into a smirk and a single eyebrow raised above the other. "Are you giving me a complement?"

"It's fact. Now please answer it." The boy said, ignoring the way how his cheeks flushed pink and his voice grew flustered.

With her own smirk dropping like a metal ball, Sakura sighed, as she replied. "I didn't get in, because I didn't apply - it's as simple as that."

"Explain. Now."

_**'Arrogant Uchiha.'**_

**'Aren't they all?' **Sakura answered back, to her inner voice, sighing internally.

**_'__Touché__.'_**

"I..." She stared, before trailing off and staring again, nerves brimming at the surface of her skin. "I've been thinking, y'know about what I want to do, when I, um grow up."

Coughing lightly, she tried to clear her throat, confidence coming back to her, once she began talking about what she loved. "I want to become a Medic so I can help people and while Konohagakure High, is a great school, it doesn't really have a medic program."

"Which school are you going to then?"

"Guess."

Sasuke seemed to have a curious expression on his face. His eyes were dilated, while his mind seemed to ponder over all of the information. Sakura didn't doubt that he'd get it, after all, he was a genius in his own right.

After contemplating it for a few minutes, the boy replied. "You're going to the Shizo School of Medicine and Arts, right?" Waiting for a few moments, the boy watched as his female teammate nodded, before smiling. After all, it wasn't the first time she'd talked about it in the last two months.

"Yeah. I applied last week and hopefully, I'll get accepted."

The 'Shinzo School of Medicine and Arts' was one of the top medical high schools in Japan, although it's acceptance rate was next to almost nothing. The reason it was well known however, was due to the fact that it applied real world problems to the average textbook ones. Not to mention, it tried to challenge every person's way of thinking and open up new boundaries. That was exactly the reason that Sakura wanted to enter it - knowing that if she could get in, she'd definitely learn what she wanted to - that too, before college.

The onyx haired boy watched her for a few seconds, causing the young girl to fidget underneath his heavy, searching gaze. Finally, before she could even see him move, he reached out and poked her, square on her forehead, causing her to clutch her head and scowl at him - confused at the prospect and at how her heart was beating faster than she wished it to be.

_**'Stupid soulmate bond! Stupid soulmate.'**_

**'...I agree.'**

"Hey! What was that for?" She asked, rubbing her head in pain.

"_Usuratonkachi_." The ebony eyed boy said, tilting his head to the side. "You should be confident."

"Y - You're right." Sakura responded, surprise etched into the skin of her face. Slowly her cheeks twisted into a smile, as she spoke the next words - grateful and understanding. "Thanks Sasuke - _kun, _I needed that."

_**'...Maybe he isn't too stupid.'**_

"Hn."

Checking the time once, Sakura jumped, slightly nervous that she was way past the time she'd promised her father that'd she'd be home. Not to mention...a gasp came to her mouth, as she remembered who was coming to their house for dinner.

"I have to go, my aunt is probably here," The pinkette admitted, watching as the other boys' facial expression twisted slightly, to understanding and then remembrance.

"Your Aunt Fura...right?" He asked softly, watching as her face twisted into shock.

"Y - Yeah." Sakura responded, gulping slightly.

**'How did he know?'**

Sasuke hummed, and at her curious expression, he sighed and extended his reasoning. "I remember, you've talked about her before."

The older girl titled her head to the side, as she shook her head - her mind racing with memories when she could've brought it up. Finally she bit her lip and frowned, wrinkles forming above her eyebrows. "No I haven't. The only time I've talked about Aunt Fura was when..." She trailed off, her eyes going wide, before her head snapped up. "Don't tell me you remember? That was years ago!?"

Four years exactly, if she remembered it right.

Sasuke shoved out his wrist, causing the pinkette to study the bronze engraving before sighing in understanding. Of course the onyx haired boy would remember it, considering the fact that it was tattooed on his wrist and he had to see it, everyday.

_'Aunt Fura, the world wide world sucks! People should just go die in a hole.'_

Biting her lip, Sakura laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, I wasn't exactly...in the best of moods during that time. Sorry about that."

"It was my fault as well." The Uchiha said, causing the female to pause and stare at him. "I shouldn't have responded back so...rudely."

"It's fine." Sakura said lightly, chuckles coming out of her mouth a little too loud, as she exhaled slightly. Boy wasn't today a shock - it was almost too much stupor for her to handle. "I understand."

"Shouldn't you be going now, at least you won't get into too much trouble."

Opening her mouth to reply, Sakura was cut off by the sudden buzz of her phone in the inner pocket of her yukata - alerting her of a new text. With her fumbling fingers, she pulled out the small red phone, fastening the other package into her pocket as she did so - making it easier to reach. Her eyes widened when she read who the text was from, before wincing slightly. Hastily, she replied, before shoving the phone back into her pocket and smiling apologetically.

"...You're right. Bye Sasuke - _kun!_"

Turning around, the pinkette walked forwards, before hesitating and screwing her eyes shut. Her inner clamored loudly of how she shouldn't be a scaredy cat and how she was a strong independent woman, who shouldn't be worried over such a small thing. Summoning up all of the courage in her body, to rise to the top of her bones - Sakura whirled around, facing the back of the Uchiha, before taking in a deep breath.

After all, she was leaving tomorrow, and she couldn't move forwards, with unsaid words holding her back.

"I'm sorry I was so annoying."

"What?" Sasuke asked, before the boy himself, partially turned around. From her view of his face, Sakura could see how his eyebrow was raised in confusion and how his hands clenched together. He tilted his head, indicating that he was listening.

"I've always admired you." The pinkette said calmly, moving her gaze to the ground. "You seem so perfect, in everything you do and I guess that when I learnt that you were my soulmate, I was scared." The girl responded honestly, before continuing.

"It was so frightening I suppose - and frustrating." Sakura replied, languidly and softly.

"...What was?" The ebony eyed boy asked, his voice masked so that she couldn't understand how he was feeling - something which annoyed her to her very core.

"Wondering why someone as perfect as you, had _me_ as your soulmate."

"I'm not perfect." Sasuke said suddenly, his eyes narrowing into her smaller frame, causing her to fidget slightly. "I'm impatient, I have a short fuse - I'm not used to showing people kindness, i'm sarcastic-"

"I know!" Sakura burst out, causing the younger boy to stop and stare at her in confusion. "I've learnt that, and all it's done is make me respect you even more, because now I know that you're not perfect - you're _human _and it was wrong of me to not treat you as one." She finally admitted, causing the Uchiha to look at her, his face impassive, but eyes wide. "So what if I was jealous of the girls throwing themselves at you; so what if I was in a bad spot as well, and you were my only output - and even if, you were mean to me...I shouldn't have treated you like an object."

The boy seemed to be too shocked to even speak, his mouth opening and closing - as if he was a fly. Smiling slightly, Sakura wiped the tear from her eyes, before closing them and taking in a deep breath. Yeah, it was kind of his fault for ignoring her and being so mean, but in reality she was the one to blame for pushing all of her problems on him, and hoping he would except it. Moving forwards, the young girl pressed a kiss to the Uchiha's cheek, ignoring how smooth the skin was beneath her chapped lips and how he stiffened underneath her kiss; the young girl then, reached into the outer layer of her yukata and shoved the parcel that she'd been fidgeting with all night into his hands.

"Happy Birthday Sasuke." She whispered after she pulled back, before smiling at him.

Whirling around, the young girl sent a cheeky grin over her shoulder towards his stunned face, before hoisting the ends of her yukata up, and sprinting, the air hitting her cheeks, causing her to laugh loudly. Her emerald eyes glistened slightly, as tears began to form near the edges of them.

"Goodbye." Sakura whispered, her words carried away from the wind.

So she did it - she untied the last knot.

She was finally free.

* * *

**Well, so after writing this prologue for a half a year, it gets published. Hopefully, quality keeps up with quantity for this book. Tell me what you all think!**

**Just to clear things up, yes this is a SasuSaku book, and yes, Sakura still has a crush on Sasuke, but first, she's going to grow and spread her wings. After all, romance is a side show _for now._ **

**Ja ne, and thank you to all of those, who gave my book a try!**

**~ Titania of Fairies**


	2. Hinata Loses CONTROL

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto, it belongs to Kishimoto - _sama _and all of the producers and editors which helped create the anime. This is purely for fun and stress relief.

**Warning and Tags: **NaruHina & SasuSaku are the main pairings with NejiTen, Suikari, InoKiba, and ItaFem!Shisui as side pairings; if you don't like them, please don't read this story. Cold!Hinata and Fiesty!Sakura. Mentions of Drugs, Mafia, Guns, Blood, Death, Slightly Dark, Mentions of Abuse, Coarse Language, Perverted Stuff(Kakashi & Jiraiya), ships are slow burn.

**Summary: **The drug is spreading. It's putrid scent wiping out millions in secret - falling into the hearts of thousands, and taking over their minds. It is fruitless to resist the drug, as it shows your best dreams. However one must remember, a dream only lasts for so long and eventually you have to wake up - yet Hinata and Sakura are the only ones who do. Soulmate!Magic!Mafia!AU SasuSaku NaruHina

_**I've been thinking about getting a Beta for this book, and for my other one: 'Ashes'. If anyone is interested, please PM me about it!**_

**~ Titania of ****Fairies**

**PS. WARNING! THIS CHAPTER IS HEAVY ON THE ANGST AND HAS SLIGHT BIT OF BLOOD - FEW SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AS WELL. IF THAT AFFECTS YOU, PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS, BEFORE EACH PART!**

* * *

_"You can't wake up, this is not a dream. You're part of a machine, you are not a human being."_

\- Halsey

She is a **mistake**.

When she was younger, she would always hear her mother _scream_ at her father through the thin plastic of their walls. Often, the older _woman_ would ask him whether or not he was properly **teaching** her, after all she couldn't do anything right - as **_pathetic_** as she was. The blue haired girl would sometimes question that if she really was pathetic, wasn't it her mothers' fault, for _creating_ her? Usually however, she would sing to herself, hoping that the noise would block out the _negative_ shouts - and most of the time, it worked.

However, if the hatred from that _woman _wasn't bad enough, her father would either ignore her, or watch her practice the clan **taijutsu** \- before barking out _orders_ which made no sense to the young girl.

The Hyuga fighting style didn't come easily to her, the martial arts movements feeling stiff and uncomfortable with her body. Every punch made her _**bleed**_, no matter how much she tried to relaxed her posture and movements - however, that only caused her motions to become even more _stiff_ and jerky. While it was a fact that her entire personality had no **backbone**, the idea that she couldn't memorize the twelve fighting forms was just **_pathetic_**, causing her to have a low image and **status**, in the clan.

It was only on her fifth birthday however, that she was deemed as a complete_** waste of space**_. Hinata could still remember watching her grandparents face, fill with confusion and how her father's body shook with _disappointment_. All because she was unable to unlock their famous clan **Dōjutsu**. After all, she was a full blooded Hyuga female, not some **_lowly_** human or half blood - so therefore it should've come to her easily, **right**?

No, it didn't.

She always **hated** herself for that.

After all, Hyuga without their eyes, was lower then **_scum_**.

If she couldn't even beat a girl four years younger then her, what was she?(forgetting the fact that said girl was her younger sister, and their was no way in _hell _that the bluenette would hurt her. As wimpy as she might be, if someone dared touch her **imouto**, then they would _**burn in the depths of-**)_

Soon, her father left her to her own _devices_, and began to tutor her younger sister instead, leaving her with a sense of **hollowness** and _**betrayal - **_although, she really should've been used to it by then. Her mother had no use for her, and focused on _criticizing_ every move she made - preferably in **public**. By the time she was..._**taken**(more like stolen)_ from the compound, the fact that she was useless was deeply ingrained into her head.

Hinata had thought that it couldn't have gotten **worse**, how could it have? Her clan hated her, something which didn't bother her as much as it should've - however, it was the people in the clan who hated her, which made it as bad as it was. In fact, it was only her **_sister_**, her _cousin_, and her **uncle** \- all of whom she adored and had adored her; who were her only _lights_ in the **darkness** which was the Hyuga clan.

Yet, all of them were beginning to _**close**_.

Her uncle Hizashi's light began to _fade_ when he was **killed**_(back then, Hinata didn't even know what that word meant. What did they mean, when they said uncle Hizashi was not going to come back, this was his home right? Didn't he want to come home?)_in combat against an Iwagakure **agent** who was sent to _uncover_ secrets of the Byakugan. While Hinata was only seven when he died, she still remembered the kindness which he showed her when she lost a sparring match, or even when she was feeling down. The bluenete remembered how he had held her after the **death** of her mother; soothing her when she didn't actually need soothing, after all she didn't care about her mother. That woman was **_nothing_** to her.

In fact, the only **funeral** which she ever cried at, was her uncles'.

It was that day, that his _light_, became forever **closed** in her **_mind_**.

Next was her cousin.

After the **death** of his _father_, Neji had become **bitter** and **cold** towards the main house, stating that it was their fault that his father had gone on that mission. It almost seemed that he was being especially mean towards Hinata, as she was the one who was directed to most of his _insults_ and **hatred**. Her gentle cousin, who used to laugh and play with her, became someone whom she wanted to avoid; in order not to get **sneered** at. The _light_ which she saw in him, slowly dwindled away, until only a _**spark**_ was left - however the bluenette clung onto that little **_spark_** hoping that one day, it would return _completely_.

It **didn't**.

The last _light_ was the _brightest_ of the three, the one which Hinata refused to let go off. Her sister was young and _**naive**_, so, so _**naive**_ \- something which the girl loved and yet, **hated** about her. It made the bluenette feel guilty every time she tugged on the _string_ between her sibling and herself; after all, she didn't want to **manipulate** her imouto, but if she didn't, then Hanabi would end up like the rest of her clan. _**Cold**_ and **_arrogant_**. Hinata wouldn't let that happen, her sister was her _life_, her **everything**; the bluenette would make sure that the younger girl would have a _happy_ life.

Unlike herself - because Hinata is a **mistake**, and **mistakes** don't get to be **_happy_**.

Although, it was odd that her soulmate first words to her was contradicting towards her own thoughts - but that was fine, when she met them, she would explain why they shouldn't want her as their partner. After all, all she'd do was slow them down.

However they were they deserved someone better.

After all, **mistakes** shouldn't have soulmates.

* * *

She's **tired**.

_Exhaustion_ hung from her bones, as her eyes dulled with overuse and strain. Her legs twitched, as the muscle inside of them stung with _**pain**_ and remembrance - remembrance of the _brutal_ katas she had just practiced. Her arms laid limply by her head, her fingers too stiff to even move out of their designated areas. _**Pain**_ rushed up her torso, as the **bruises** there were more defined then the rest which scattered up and down her back. Groaning softly, the young girl rolled over, the top of her spine cracking underneath the _pressure_ as she layed on her back.

Her pale skin glistened with _sweat_, as the tremors in her neck moved up and down her body, ringing right between the pits of her ears. **Shock** waves went through her head, not allowing her to sleep, as much as her body craved the **_numb_** feeling. A _weary_ mist hung over her bones, as the lids above her eyes slowly begin the shut - her breath thinning into steady hums, matching to the beat of her heart.

The nine year old disliked the feeling she received after spars. The _**numbness**_ made it easier for **negativity** to creep throughout her brain, lulling her into the extreme truth that was herself. Every time she lost _(mind you, it wasn't often that she won)_ _cynical_ traits fell into her body, and **bitter** feelings crawled into her throat, until she could no longer feel.

It was only in these moments, where the bluenete felt completely and utterly _alone_.

Hinata was **tired** of that feeling.

Rubbing the words which were on her right wrist, Hinata sighed, as she shook her head, wonder filling her brain. Her eyes narrowed, as she tilted her head to the side and sighed softly. Amusement, once more, shook her body, as she wondered what state she must've been in, for her soulmate to say such a thing to her.

"Nee - _chan, _nee - _chan! _Look at me!" A cheerful voice filled her ears, causing a weary smile to tug onto her lips, and eyes to begrudgingly lift away from her skin - just in time to see the happy face of the one she loved the most.

"W - What i - is it Hanabi?" Hinata asked, softly and lovingly, the paleness and exhaustion in her eyes reflecting off of the eager look in her sisters - something which was quite common in the Hyuga household.

"Can you bake with me today?" The animated brunette asked her older sister, a smile pulling the edges of her face, only to reach the ends of her eyes.

The nine year olds smile faded slightly, as she looked down at her body and flashed the younger girl a slightly apologetic look. Sighing softly, she pulled her hand up, before patting her imouto on the head - biting her tongue as her muscles **seared** underneath the movement. "I'm s - sorry _imouto_, but I - I don't t - think that I - I can move right now."

Her sister pouted, sulking for a moment, before her smile came back at full force, causing Hinata to blink from the brightness of it. "That's okay! Can you read me a book then? _Pleaseee?" _

Rubbing her eyes, Hinata smiled, before shaking her head softly, satisfaction growing in her heart at an alarming rate. With her eyes crinkling, the bluenette muttered her acceptance, before watching the younger girl race off, only to return with a book and a blanket. After lifting her arm hesitantly, and letting her sister rush to crawl under it, the nine year old smiled softly, before wrapping the arm around younger girls' smaller body in order to bring her closer. Opening the story book, the nine year old began to read, her tense body relaxing underneath the exaggerated comments from her sister and the comfort in the tiny body next to her. Soon the five year olds' breaths evened out, and the bluenette found an overwhelming amount of emotion pour over her, as she glanced down at her imouto next to her.

Humming softly, Hinata patted Hanabi's hair gently, before pressing a soft kiss to the brunettes' forehead and turning her head away, hiding her shining eyes. As her lids closed softly, and tears slipped down her cheeks, the bluenette shook her head - letting the water pool into the blanket. Honestly, sometimes it was too much for the nine year old to be around her sister, as the admiration and wonder that younger girl had for her, was astounding. Quietly, the young girl pulled the blanket over her _imouto _higher, as she snuggled next to her, her sores long forgotten.

There was **nobody** in the world, who Hinata loved more than Hanabi.

**_Nobody_**.

* * *

She's **selfish**.

As her head became heavy, her eyes drooped shut; due to the influence of external poison. However, while she was in this dangerous position, Hinata could only _smile_ in knowledge that her darling sister was safe. Her kidnappers had entered the compound in hopes of securing the Hyuga heir, but all they got was _her_, the failure of the clan. The blunette couldn't help, but laugh at the irony of the fact, knowing that whatever happened, she still wouldn't regret being taken. After all, it was either her or her imouto, and Hinata would put Hanabi above herself at any moment.

That was exactly the reason of why the moment that the bluenette realized someone was trailing the duo, the ten year old urged her younger sister to run, saying that she would stay and fight them off. It took all of her _energy_ to hold off the attacker, until her sister got back to the compound - and somehow, when she felt Hanabi's chakra enter the inner walls, she relaxed slightly. That was a mistake, because that was all it took for a single hit to the head, to knock her out.

**'It wasn't like it wouldn't have happened anyways.' **Hinata reasoned with herself. **'After all, I did lose a lot of blood.'**

Still, it was inexcusable that she lost to an outsider.

As the young girl rubbed her hands together, trying to saw through the thick ropes which they had binded onto her hands, she sighed slightly and bit her lip, the _metallic_ taste of blood filling into her mouth. Her body moved from side to side, in the small box which she was placed in, most likely from the movement of the vehicle she was placed within. Fear clouded her mind as the blue haired girl desperately tried to hold onto something, anything, which would try to bring her back to the ground.

**'Otou - _sama _would be disgusted if he found out.' **The bluenette giggled at the horror that would be on her fathers face, when he found out that his precious Byakugan had been taken. What a sight it would be, if only she could see it.

Suddenly, reality hit the young girl in the face, causing her to wince as her head beat against the side of the metal trunk. Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax her beating heart as the fog of the unknown, settled over her eyes. Blinking a few times, the young girl tried to strain her pupils, in order to peer throughout the darkness - however, her efforts were _fruitless_ as her eyesight wasn't as sharp or defined as the typical Hyuga's.

Ahh, so that must be why they didn't cover her eyes, Hinata thought, staring into the space around her. They thought that she was an _average_ Hyuga, and that a blindfold would do nothing to stop her from seeing around her.

Well, that could certainly work in her favor.

Suddenly, the rocking movement stopped, as the ten year old paused in her attempts to escape, to furrow her brow and tilt her head to the side. With worry escaping its cage in her mind, the young girl tried to still her shaking hands and shook her head, hoping that her thoughts weren't about to come _true_.

Sighing slightly, the young girl returned her _efforts_ to trying to untie the ropes around her arms, ignoring how the material rubbed even more further into the flesh of her arm. All of her attempts were in vain, however, as it wasn't long before the door in the far corner opened, causing Hinata to pause, her throat drying up. Her eyes squinted once more, as they took in the shadowed figure in the doorway.

It wasn't surprising that, _that_ was the last thing she saw, before a sharp pain hit her in the neck; her mind registering it as a hand chop; causing her to backed out - the phantom of pain, still _ringing_ in the hollow of her ears.

She woke up, hours later - with her hands _(once more) _tied to wall, only this time the cuffs were made of metal. Her head hurt and her eyes _ached_ even more then they did before. The entire form of her body was sore - and as the young girl attempted to move, she was only held down by another set of chains which were fastened around the crooks of her feet. As her breath evened out and her mind wracked for ways to get out of the situation she was in, clawing at the empty space. _(Nobody was going to come after her. This was the only fact which Hinata knew completely - after all, why would they? What would they gain in risking others' lives in saving a **failure-**)._

Then the door opened, and Hinata was placed face to face with a man who she had only be told of in horror stories _(even those didn't scare her anymore. Why would they? After all, what she'd gone through was worse-)_. The young girl pushed herself into the corner of the dusty room, hoping that whomever it was, wouldn't spot her. She had no suck luck, as her eyes widened in _horror_ for having figured out who exactly was in front of her, the moment they turned their eyes towards her body. Almost, as if he could smell her fear, the man smiled at her, his thin snakelike tongue flicking in and out of his thin mouth, causing her heart to completely still, as her breathing stopped. Then, he spoke, his voice sickly sweet - causing the bluenette to gulp, her throat suddenly dry.

"Hello, Hinata - _chan. _Your arrival was quite unexpected, after all, we expected the heir." The man purred, watching as she fidgeted underneath his seeking gaze - his tongue flicking out once more, as she gulped.

She couldn't answer - she didn't **_want_** to answer, it's almost as if she was afraid of what would come next; well it would be foolhardy if she wasn't scared of what was to come next.

After all, meeting _Orochimaru_, the fucking Snake **_sannin_** was never good news.

Everyone in the..._underground _field knew about the man, about his deeds - about his experiments. Hinata remembered how her father would pale, every time his name was uttered in the mansion. The bluenette remembered how her nanny used to scold her sister, saying that if she didn't behave, the sannin would capture her.

Who would've known that it would've been so literal?

...What would he want her for anyways? She's not special, in fact, their's nothing he could gain from her, expect for her - ah, so that's it, isn't it? He wanted her eyes didn't he? That made much more sense, to the young girl. After all, Byakugan was very much sought after, therefore hadn't taken much time, for the young girl to realize exactly why she was placed in this certain situation.

Not that it made anything better.

In fact, it only made it worse.

After watching her, his stilted golden eyes glowing, while assessing her every move, the ash skinned man grinned once more, causing her the bluenette to whimper softly, as he moved forwards - pinning her with his aura. His tongue snakes out more, as he spoke, his tone gravelly.

"That's alright. I'm sure we can make do with the spare."

* * *

_**(If you have a problem with angst, please skip the future () parts) **_

She **dreamed**.

Why? Well, one reason was because _she _was the one who controlled her dreams. **She **was the one, who could decide what happened in them, and **_she_** was the one who could choose to end them when she wanted to. It was calming to know that she had control over something, because it wasn't unknown to her that she didn't have it over anything else in the lab.

Dreams were a constant, because she always knew that she could call upon them if she wished to - on the other hand, every minute she was awake, the blue haired girl would be trembling with fear of what was to come next.

Was she to go towards the fighting grounds, where she'd be forced to fight someone until the one of them passed out or passed out?_(They were like **rag dolls **weren't they? Doing whatever they were told to without any **complaints** or **issues** and yet, how low had she stooped to not even try anymore? But she did care, she **c**a**r**e**d **too **much - **every time she was forced to beat someone - oh how **pathetic** she was. After all, even while _crying_ inside, she'd follow the order. She knew what happened to those who rebelled; the punishment was even worse then losing a fight and H__inata knew what it felt like, when you lose a fight. She had **lost** a fight once - she'd hesitated and her opponent sliced her chest, causing to _**black**_ out from blood loss. __She was then, forced to face the **p**u**n**i**s**h**m**e**n**t**. **_

_She _**never**_ lost again.) _

Or would she be placed into the **_experimental_** wing and forced into **submission**?_(If the fighting wasn't bad enough, the experiments were worse. God the bluenette would much rather face the hell god himself, than going through another experiment. The knives and **medicine** themselves weren't the worst part, but rather the observational box they were placed in next, was. It made her feel like an animal, forced into a prison which had no key. The ten year old remembered one time when she was injected with a new drug and placed within the box, the effects hitting her almost instantaneously. Those two weeks were hell for her, most of the time she spent was fighting to remain conscious and forcing herself stop crying and **eat. **After the fourteenth day she finally stopped screaming and opened her eyes once more, only to be congratulated to have survived. The audacity of them - SHE WASN'T A **FUCKING TOOL-**) _

Heaven **forbid** that she'd be dragged towards a direct **_c_**_o_**_n_**_f_**_r_**_o_**_n_**_t_**_a_**_t_**_i_**_o_**_n_** with one of the adults. Their _putrid_ smiles and calm faces, made her want to claw their eyes out. How could they? How could they just **_smile_**, even while they **tortured **them!? How could they act so unaffected, even when they did such _**inhuman**_ things? Hinata wished that she would never become like that.

It made her **sick, **to even think that was actually _possible_.

* * *

She **learnt the truth.**

Spending her time in that hellhole, Hinata learned that the world is not a nice place to live in, and that people aren't always good. She learned that nobody was going to help you and that you had to help yourself, if you wanted to be safe. She learned that if you wanted to survive, you had to create layer and that you had to_ grow _in order to thrive in that hellhole.

So she did.

Her smiles were the first to stop - after all, nothing happy was going on, why should she smile? Next her usually expressive face was what was controlled into a calm and completely neutral composure. Finally, her kindness turned into a ruthless fevour, one which sent her wondering what exactly happened to the girl she used to be.

Was she still even human anymore?

That was exactly the question she'd been asking herself, when she met Suki Tokka. It had been a tuesday evening _(or was it thursday? The bluenette didn't really remember, as days usually melded together. Get up, fight, be tested on, be bloody pulped to half death and then sleep), _when she'd been disrupted from her usual dull thoughts and screaming body, from the opening of her padlocked door, and the harsh shout of one of the guards. Moving, she'd tensed her muscles, fully prepared for a scene, however, she was instead greeted with the sight of a figure being pushed towards the floor and the door being shut.

It was a child.

As, so it must've been a new...recruit.

The Hyuga watched, scrutinizing the _(boy?), _their features coming into her mind. Their hair was a short dark brown which was matted to their skull, and from Hinata's point of view, they had pale skin and a scowling look on their face. The bluenette watched, as they narrowed their eyes, before lunging towards the door and pounding on it - trying to get it open. The young girl watched, confused and fascinated as the other child kept trying and trying, even as their hands turned raw. That desperation, it was shocking and Hinata found herself leaning forwards in order to see more of it - after all, that type of courage was rare around those areas and to the bluenette it was like a fresh sight. Finally, with a small flame of sympathy rising up in her - after all, she'd been in that situation once; helpless and scared - the eleven year old sighed, before making her presence known.

"You won't be able to break through." Her voice was soft, so soft that it was barely louder than a whisper.

With their head snapping, the person turned around, cementing Hinata's thoughts of their gender. The other boys' brown eyes widened in confusion, and the eleven year old found herself leaning back from his gaze, due to the amount of emotion their was in their eyes. Really, was that even natural? Had she been like that once, so completely and utterly...bare? It made her uncomfortable to think that she'd been - however, it was the truth and now Hinata appreciated the truth for what it was.

Lies only bought pain.

"A - And how do you know that?" The other child drawled, getting over his shock of not being alone.

Shooting the older boy an unimpressed look, Hinata let out another sigh - her voice only a sliver louder than it was before. "Because, like every other person in this damned hellhole, I've done it as well."

"Oh. So you've given up on escaping then!?" The male snapped back, sassily - his eyes dark and defying, causing the other girl to crack a smile - _something which she hadn't done in a long time_ \- due to the fact of how...naive that question was.

Debating whether or not to answer that question - after all information was very important around here, one could find themselves thrown into the end of the snake pit if they dare uttered the wrong word to the wrong person - however, it was the fire in his eyes, which made her pause and shake her head, her voice soft and completely blank. "No. Escaping is a hope of mine, but without significant details, it will be completely useless in trying."

The brunette blinked, as if shocked at the way she'd replied, before frowning, his gaze gaining a ounce of confusion. "Oh. That's a shitty way to look at it."

Hinata smiled once more, her cheeks burning and one eyebrow raised - mostly due to the fact that her muscles weren't quite used to that motion and her incoming amusement. Shaking her head, the eleven year old leaned forwards and voiced her answer, her tone curious at his answer. "Well, we're in a shitty place right now, aren't we?"

Brown eyes stared at her for a few minuets, before the owner of them let out a large laugh, the sound of it barreling through the small, damp room which they were in. Hinata watched, shocked, as the older boy fell over, laughing hysterically. Slowly, her own mouth formed some chuckles, causing her to feel lighter than she had for ages. As quickly as they came though, they stopped, as the bluenette was worried that someone might've been watching them.

"Y'know, you're not too bad. What's your name?" The short boy asked her, causing her to cock her head to the side and respond, traces of laughter still in her voice - no matter how hard she tried to hide them.

"Hinata, I'm Hinata." Because, she never truly was a real Hyuga, and she wouldn't go down as one.

"Oh, that's a real pretty name!" The other boy responded, causing her to smile, her heart warming slightly at the complement. After all, it was the first time she'd gotten such a genuine one since her arrival at this hellhole - not that it meant much.

"T - thank you. And your name is?" The bluenette responded, taken aback, watching as the boy perked up at this, a grin pulling at his lips and her expressive eyes gleaming once more with pure joy.

"Suki, Suki Tokka at your business miss!"

Sure, Hinata wasn't as human as she once was, and her mind was as closed as the cage she was, however her heart was still beating strong and wild. Therefore, it was no surprise that Tokka fell underneath her protection quite quickly. The bluenette swore that she would make sure that nothing would happen to him on her watch - and she succeeded in doing this for an year.

Until, she fell, and he fell with her.

.

_"Tokka - kun, could you...could you __tell me another story again?" _

_"Another one? But Hinata - chan, I already told you one today. If I keep telling you more, soon i'll run out of them!" _

_"Impossible! You have so many stories, you can't run out of them."_

_"You say that now, but just you wait - one day you'll get bored of my stories." _

_"That'll never happen. We both know that your stories are the best, now please tell me one?" _

_"Hinata...what did they do to you, during training?" _

_"...Nothing important." _

_"Hinata-"  
_

_"Please Tokka - can I have a story?"_

_"Fine...but promise me something."_

_"What?" _

_"When we get out of here, you'll tell me a story." _

_"Me? Tell you a story?" _

_"Yes." _

_"...Alright, when we get out of here, I'll tell you a story." _

_"Good. It's a promise." _

_"Although, I'm warning you that it will be crappy and nothing like yours." _

_"Of course, nothing can match up to my stories." _

_"Tokka!"_

_._

She had never kept her promise.

It was all her fault.

She never forget herself for that - years later she would stare at herself in the mirror in shining hatred, after all, how could she have done something so fucking stupid? How _could_ she? It was _her _fault that he died. It was her fault that he took that hit, and it was her fault that she was so weak. She was so weak that she couldn't even fulfill a single promise that she made to herself - she couldn't even protect her loved ones. She had abandoned her comrade.

She really was worse then scum.

It was that day, that Hinata stopped speaking.

After all, Tokka was the only person in that hellhole, to make her laugh, to make her smile - and with him gone, she didn't deserve to do either of those.

It wasn't surprising that her will to live disappeared slowly after that.

* * *

She's always been a **coward**.

It's not a huge thing, it's actually only natural that humans are cowards. In fact, the human brain is born with the instinct of flight - something which people now equivocate with the words 'failure', 'fear' and 'cowardliness'. However, it is only due to these three words that multiple people have survived in history. Sure, sitting safe at home, one would scream when an character does something stupid and runs for their life- it's only natural thing to do. However, you must remember that screaming _'fight, fight,' _is real easy when you aren't in that situation.

_'But a hero would save everyone!' _You could argue. _'Heroes and selfless and good!'_

That's true and all, but how many people are true heroes? I'm talking about real life heroes, not the ones that you watch on television, or read in a story. Think about a real world problem - bullying for example. Over 3.2 million kids are bullied in a year, and yet, statistics show that over 90 percent of the kids who witness it happening, ignore it and do nothing about it. Saying this however, it is actually that 10 percent, who are the true heroes. Remember, true heroes are not saints, they're average people, like you and me, who wanted to change the world for the better and did so.

After all, to do something that could put yourself into the path of harm and danger, is something that someone with true courage could do. It's not hard, but the amount of time you have to make your choice is limited - all it takes is one motion for you to make the right, or wrong decision, and you have to stick with your choice once you have made it.

Hinata had always made the wrong one.

As most of her time she was locked up by herself, in that **cage, **she was forced to think about other things which had happened in her childhood - you know, as not to go insane by the solitude and the guilt of surviving when Tokka hadn't. The memories of her younger self kept popping back into her brain, causing her to pause and think, even when she wished that she didn't. Moments, where she didn't speak up, or even when she kept quiet when someone was yelling at her, came to her mind first - causing the young girl to wonder what she'd do now in that situation. God the differences were almost starling to the blue haired girl, as before while she had stuttered out a quick sorry; yet now she would've ignored the said person, or glared at them. Well, internal defiance had kept her sane more times then she would've liked to admit _(it was better than saying it out loud, or going along with what was happening, without hesitation)_ \- well, that and marking the days that went by on the wall. After all, she'd like to know how long she had survived in that place, as it made her feel positive that if she could survive that long, she would be able to survive for another day.

...Really, she was only trying to make the best out of the worst, however, her mind told her that it didn't justify the dark thoughts in her head anymore.

Well, going back to how she would respond now, the change of attitude was most likely due to the fact that there were many differences between the her now and the her then. After all, fear and hatred really did effect her more than she thought it would've.

God, what she thought she felt for the clan was bad? No, this was worse. This completely utterly took over Hinata's mind, feeding into the darkest parts of her brain at the worst possible times. Some days she dreamed about revenge, basking in it's glory and laughing when the ideas became wilder than she ever expected them to be - only because they reduced her worry about them hurting her. It helped however, it helped that she had something to think about, rather than spend her time wallowing in the dark and wondering what was going to happen next.

It worked most days, as they mostly left her alone, after all - now that they knew that she didn't have the Byakugan she was no longer as much as a use they had thought her to be. However, that didn't mean she was free game, in fact, that _thing _decided that if she didn't have the Byakugan, maybe they could coax it out of her. That was her least favorite part and it was safe to say that she **loathed** those training sessions.

The sound of chains pulled her out of her thoughts, as the young girl jerked her head upwards, before instinctively stilling, reluctant fear rise throughout her heart and coiling into the depths of her throat. Her mouth dried, as the locked door opened, just in time for her to see the figure of a familiar face - one which she hated with all of her might.

"Hinata - _chan! _How have you been? Your eyes haven't been aching again have they? After all, that would only mean bad things for us." A cheerful voice called out, causing her to pull her lips into a frown and glower at the silver haired medic, her body shuttered - trying to close in on herself.

She didn't respond - it wasn't like she ever would, but even if she did, she knew that her voice would be filled with hatred for the man in front of her.

"I see you've been good." Yakushi Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man, replied to his own question, before smiling at the younger girl; causing her lip to curl inwards in disgust. "Me? I'm good, thank you for asking."

She didn't.

Sighing slightly, the young girl quivered as she got to her feet and held the wall, acceptance in her face and body. Softly, she stood on her own, before clenching her hands behind her back and trying to calm her racing heart down. Glaring at the man, she tensed up further when he chuckled with that eerie look in his eyes - the one that gleamed with greed.

"Still so uptight, aren't you Hinata - _chan? _Don't worry, by the end of today you'll be much more...loose."

As she was _lead _towards the lab Hinata couldn't help, but shake her head softly at what was to come and how she would have to deal with it. The bluenette knew that if she was going to 'brave' and 'courageous', it would be best if she just died. After all, if she died, then her captors wouldn't be allowed to see information on her clan Dōjustu. If that happened, then they wouldn't be able to potentially injure one of her people, with their own game. If she just killed herself, they wouldn't be able to unravel secrets which had been hidden from outsiders for such a long time. Who knew, if they actually succeeded in getting her Byakugan to work, wouldn't that mean that they had enough information to potentially create a fake one?

Therefore, in all effects, it would be best for everyone if she just decided to kill herself. Utilitarianism, wasn't that what is was called? Every choice is decided is for the betterment of the group, rather than the individual.

Well, Hinata had always been a coward.

Today was no different.

* * *

She hated **god**.

Rather, she hated the idea of god. After all, if their really was a god, why did he/she let something this horrible happen to people? If god created the world, then why would he let it become like it was now - cold, dark, cruel and most of all, evil? Kami, how low humans must have stooped in order to let children become the prey for the predators.

If the world was a snake, Hinata was the bunny.

Yet, as the young girl stared into the eyes of her enemy, her brain screaming at her that the end was near, all she could do was smile, her eyes cloudy and dark. Her lips twisted into a sneer as her limp posture straitened up and her face turned into a neutral hue. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, as the tiny voice at the back of her head whispered how her time was rapidly closing very quickly, however, it didn't seem to affect the bluenette as much as she thought it would. Rather, her thoughts were of the opposite situation - as they were light and airy.

Unlike her brain, her body seemed to disagree as it was tense and high strung.

Therefore, it was no surprise that once in her time spent at that hellhole, Hinata fought back.

It is needless to say that it resulted in failure, but still, the idea that she _resisted _was enough to make her satisfied for the first time in her life.

For what? In the end, she was still forced into a chair, kicking and screaming, her mind calm while her body was panicking.

As the fucking snake came closer towards her, a needle in his hand, the young girl closed her mouth and shot the sannin the most deathlike glare that she'd ever concocted and pushed all of the fear away from her eyes. The man, then smirked at her, as if amused at her little show of strength, before he grabbed her face, her bones molding underneath the harsh grip of his hand.

"Enjoy your trip to hell, Hinata - _chan. _I hope you succeed in returning to us."

That couldn't be possible, after all, nothing could be worse than this.

Then he pulled out a needle and stuck the edge of it in her right eye, and Hinata learned that death hadn't _just_ come to her. It had been hovering over her shoulder, ever since she was born - never managing to touch her, just there, waiting and watching until the moment came where it could swoop her away.

It seemed that the time had come.

* * *

_**(ANGST and BLOOD)**_

She was **_done_**

Hinata _couldn't_\- she just **_couldn't_** handle it anymore. Her eyes ached and ached and ached _and they struggled to see and move because- because-_

_T**H**E**Y **C**O**U**L**D**N**'**T**._

It _hurt_, it hurt so goddamn much - why? Why did it hurt that much, why did she scream, when she knew that it wouldn't stop. What did she- what did she do to- **god, it burned, in burned and stung, and _seared_\- why would't it sto- why-**

**Why was this happening?**

_**S**c**o**r**c**h**i**n**g, **flaming**, **_the feeling moved down her back, causing her spine to crack and her internal muscles to stretch and _break - down, down it went, causing her to scream from the agony of the - of the **pure pain.**_

**Why were they doing this?**

She knew they were **evil**, but surely, they couldn't be that horrible _right_? Didn't they have any respect for the **human life**? No they don't - she should've know that already, yet, she can't help but question, _what someone must have gone through, to become so wicked._

Because it's _just not normal - _then again, what would she know about normal?

**What did she do to deserve this _hell_?**

_**Itthrobsandthrobsandthrobs - everything was hurting and she didn't know why. Her body screamed, and somewhere deep inside of her, she craved revenge, revenge for those who treated her this way. Revenge for those who take pleasure in watching others suffer. She wanted to killandkillandkill- she wanted to see the blood on her hands-**_

The thing is she didn't deserve it, in fact, while she was pathetic and weak - _nobody _should've deserved to be in that situation. Toyed with, until they were painfully and slowly moved to insanity - tortured, for the sake of knowledge.

Yet, here it was, happening to her, so it was no surprise at what her brain was telling her body.

**She wanted to die.**

In the end, none of her answers were solved and her traitor of a heart let out a tiny whisper in the back of her mind, stating that she _actually_ doesn't want to die.

Then again, does anyone want to die? - The human body is programmed with the need to survive, no matter what it cost is. However, there's nothing she could've really done at that moment, other then try to suppress the hatred which was welling up inside of her chest. Then, the pain stopped suddenly and her eyes begun to see a bright light _(how odd, considering that they're closed)_, and a small voice caused her to pause and listen.

_'Do you want to live?'_

It took her a while to realize that yes, she did want to live, but the eerie feeling that the only she wants to live, is for _revenge _came to her; causing her to pause in her motions. Had she really become so cynical that she couldn't forgive - then again, people like that didn't deserve her _forgiveness_.

Not that it was worth much.

_'Answer me child, do you want to live?'_

The answer came to her instantaneously, after all, she didn't want to live for herself. Why should she wake up, just to be tortured again? The feelings of revenge which threatened to take over her body caused her to cry out silently - she didn't want to live with what she had become.

A broken person, in both mind and soul.

Besides, if she died, then maybe she would be allowed to see Tokka - then she could finally apologize and beg for his forgiveness. Even though she didn't deserve it. Blinking once, the young girl started to make her decision, when she was stopped by the flash of an image which appeared in mind.

Long brown hair alongside of flawless tanned skin moved into her vision, which caused the blue haired girl to still in surprise. Next, the image of pretty pink lips came into view and Hinata had to stop herself from gasping at how similar they were to her own. However, it was the lilac colored eyes, which were filled with joy, admiration and most of all, love, of what caused the young girl to cry softly - a sudden longing appeared in her chest.

It had been years since she had last thought about Hanabi. Mostly due to the fact that she'd been trying to keep her sister out of her bad thoughts and tried to stop the nostalgia from coming back to her again. Now that she did however, a wave of want and desperation came over her body. The hands in her lap ached to hold her imouto, to talk to her - to _love _her, as her eyes began to water with tears

She wanted to see her sister, at least one last time.

Then, for the first time in two years, Hyuga Hinata spoke.

**'Yes.'**

_'I'm sorry Tokka, I'm so, so, sorry.'_

It seemed her time had not come yet.

* * *

Yakushi Kabuto sighed, as he stared at the limp body of experiment number 218003 - his mouth twisting in a frown. Shaking his head, he turned to Orochimaru - _sama _and reflected the other mans' look of disappointment - after all, they had hoped that this time the subject wouldn't die, but there really _had_ been a small chance of survival.

"How sad. I had thought it would work this time." The snake sannin replied, his head tilting with mock remorse.

Opening his mouth, the brown eyed teenager began to say something, however, he was cut off by a sudden burst of light which began at the experiments chest.

Covering his eyes, the silver haired man inhaled sharply as his mind screeched to a halt. There was no way-? He had checked project 218000's vitals and everything had come back negative - meaning that it was dead! How could this be possible? How could it have survived? Suddenly, a grin split across his face as the understanding of what was happening hit him. With a gleam of fervency entering his eyes, the nineteen year old stopped in his tracks - alongside of his mentor, wonder and greed rising up in his body.

"Finally, it's worked." Orochimaru replied, his snakelike tongue slithering out in excitement. "The _medicine_ has come back positive."

Moving forwards, the ashen skinned man went to inspect the body closer, when he was pushed back my an intangible force. Stumbling on his feet, the older man was forced backwards, as Kabuto stared at the subject in confusion. Hesitantly, took a single step forwards, before freezing as a cold voice entered his brains.

_**'L**e**a**v**e. **L**E**A**V**E** Y**O**U **_**Τέρας**_**.'**_

What happened next shocked the both of them.

The light which had started at the chest, spread until it was around the entirety of its' body - the shine coming out of it caused the two men to be blinded by the light. Then, almost at the same moment, they realized what was happening - the project did not succeed, and in fact, it had gone terribly wrong. However, by the time that they realized this, it was too late and all they could do was turn on their back and sprint hoping to make in out in time.

For a good reason that too, as ten seconds later, the lab blew up.

* * *

_**(WARNING: BLOOD and BODIES)**_

She awoke while coughing.

Then she took a breath- _and another _and another and**_ another- _**and then, it finally hit her like a train to ribs, that she was really alive and awake. Lurching upwards, the bluenete clawed at her throat, as she gasped for breath - her lungs taking in the air greedily. Finally calming down, the young girl let out a ragged sigh, before blinking a few times and staring at the space surrounding her, confusion rapidly growing on her face.

The area around her person was filled with dust, which caused her to cough. Sighing once, the young girl squinted her aching eyes _(holy hell they fucking hurt...why didn't she notice that before?)_ before peering past the darkness which surrounded her. When all she could see was dust, Hinata blinked, before raising a shaky hand towards her arm clasps and jerking her head back when she realized that they weren't their anymore. Slowly, she slid her legs of of the seat she was on, the muscle only stinging a fraction of what she'd felt before, and letting herself slide down to the floor, only to use her hands to support herself, when her legs didn't work. Puffing out a breath, the bluenette held herself up with her trembling arms, waiting for her legs to finally stabilize.

When they did, the young girl exhaled as she placed her arms by her sides - before hesitantly taking a step forwards, biting her bottom lip as a hot tendril of pain shot up her foot. Shaking her at the momentary pain, the bluenette continued to walk forwards, making sure to watch out for the sharp pieces of _(rock? Was that rock? What was rock doing on the ground?) _which were laying around her.

What the heck had happened?

Suddenly, the blue haired girls' mind turned off, as her internal instincts kicked in. She had to get out of their, fast, before the older scientists came back. Actually, why weren't they here? The last thing she remembered was being strapped down into that chair and...a sharp flash ran through her head, causing the young girl to wince in pain. Okay so, whatever happened had been bad then - scratch that, worse then bad, considering the fact that it had been a few minutes since she'd woken up, and still the memories wouldn't come back.

Hinata _couldn't **wait **_until she was 'gifted' with them later.

Coughing lightly, the twelve year old moved forwards once more, pausing at the place the door used to be at and staring at the state the wood was in now. Seriously, the young girl wondered what could've been so big, as if to cause destruction - and if it really was that big, how did it not hit her?

Weird.

Stepping over the large boulders, the twelve year old ignored how the smaller pieces pressed into the flesh of the flats, of her feet, before blinking as her eyes widened at the scene in front of her. Her hand began to tremble, as her body shook from utter confusion and total shock.

Stumbling forwards, Hinata shut down as she blinked at the sight in front of her, tears welling up in her eyes - from worry and amazement. It was no surprise, considering the fact that the only thing she saw for miles, was the deep blue sky, smoke and the sight of fluffy white clouds.

As a sudden burst of air hit her face, tears stung in her eyes, as the young girl caught her breath as she chocked, her mouth drying up instantly. It had been long, far too long, since she had last seen the sky - or had gotten out of the compound really. Her sight blurred once more, when a fresh wave of guilt hit her body once more, as she thought about the promise that she had told her old friend.

It hurt that he wasn't there with her.

Shaking her head, Hinata breathed once more, fully prepared to move forwards, when she suddenly gasped - her eyes widening as she looked below the large clouds in the sky. Her blood burned underneath her skin, as the tears which were around her eyes began to let trickle down her cheeks. Red covered her vision, as confusion and denial coated the ends of her brain, her hands clenching into fists, as she slightly gasped for breath. Her mind scrambled to make sense of the situation, as the young girl paled rapidly.

**'H - How, how did this h - happen!? W - Whats' going on! Wha- I- huh-'**

_'This is the cost of power.' _A voice said, causing her to gasp at the unforeseen sound - her memory twitching as a sudden rush of emotions came over her as she closed her eyes. Her spine stiffened, as her brain kept pulsing, image after image coming in, causing her to exhale sharply as she clutched her head.

As her body betrayed her, the young girl fell to her knees, pulling her hair between her fingers and crying harder, her shoulders wracking from the sobs which came out of her mouth. However, these were not from joy like before, they were from anger, anger and disgust. The depths of her brain stilled, as she was horrified at the sight she'd just seen, her heart as shaky as her body at that moment.

Her freedom didn't seem so bright after that.

Not when she was the only one who got to have one.

The grounds were littered with bodies, their corpses mutilated and unrecognizable - ash littered around their frames, covering most of their bodies and leaving her staring as they looked like they were in a state of an eerie synopsis. Blood and body parts layed everywhere, most looking as if they were forcefully removed. Something which scarred them with their last moments on the Earth. Those whose bodies where full, where mostly crushed by the leftover ruble of the once standing torture-building; expressing that even in death they weren't free from the pain that it caused them.

_'Get up.'_ The soft voice said once more, causing her to sob quieter in her hands. _'Get up and move on. Sitting here and crying won't do you any good child, if you really want to honor those who have passed then make something of your own life. You can't cry forever.'_

**'Who're you?' **The bluenette asked, softly - her tears drying to her cheeks, her eyes shining with unshed sadness. **'What do you mean?'**

Other person responded once more, their voice growing louder and louder in the bluenettes' head as they progressed further in their speech.

_'You think crying will help them pass easier? You think your tears will do anything? They won't. I saved you for a reason child, I see the future in you - however, you can only change if you grow; and while you say you have grown, you really haven't. Grow child, grow and become strong - so that when the world knocks you down, you get back up, stronger then before. If not for yourself, but for the people you represent. Do you understand little one?" _

The words hit her like a tidal wave and the young girl found herself shocked at how they resonated throughout her brain, entering her heart with a single thud. Her eyes grew bare from the tears, while her shaking legs stiled from from their place on the ground; her frame small against the cold wind which hit her jarringly. Her mind went from sad to angry to shock and finally to...the harsh understanding of realization.

Was, was it true? Had she, had she not changed, from the useless girl she once was? Was she still the girl she'd once been - a fool?

It was all her fault wasn't it? She was the problem, she was the one who didn't deserve to live - no, enough of those thoughts. Shaking her head, young girl wiped her eyes, as her shock was replaced by a frigid numbness, one which froze her from the inside. Her mind paused as Tokka's smiling face and her imouto's joyous laugh came into picture causing her to gulp in the fresh air, in order to calm herself down.

Maybe she was a fool, maybe she _was_ worthless, but Hinata was not selfish enough to die now, not when everyone who did counted on her, were watching. Not when others remained blissfully ignorant of what was happening in the world, simply thinking it to be something which occurred in movies - just like she had once thought.

She couldn't allow that to happen, or else they'd all had died in vain; like Tokka.

The voices' sentence came back to her, causing her to unfreeze her mind and heart.

_'Do you understand child?'_

She did.

Exhaling softly, the young girl returned towards her feet, before moving forwards, coughing as she inhaled the putrid smell and sensed demolished bodies; determination lit in her pupilless eyes. Suddenly, the young girl tumbled over an unexpected and sharp rock - causing the barefooted girl to fall towards the ground, landing on her hands. Ignoring the way pain shot up her arms, and how exhaustion filled her body, as her ribs rubbed against her small dress; she scrambled to her feet, her breaths drying her throat even more.

A single thought ran through her head.

**'Survive. You must survive.' **

She would, if not for herself, but for those who didn't have the chance to.

* * *

_**Hey y'all sorry for the late chapter! I made it longer to sooth the anger, did it work? No...okay :(. Anyways, sorry for all of the angst, the next chapter will be a bit better and will be mostly based on a lighter set of terms. As for the pacing of the story, I have something to address (although I doubt anyone will read it, considering that rarely anyone reads these author notes): **_

_**The last two chapters were just the background checks and the next chapter will start the real story - there will be pieces within each chapter which will have a flashback to make some things make sense. As for Naruto and Sasuke, their parts will be shown later on as well; as for why they acted as they did. **_

_**Thank you to** _**EncinoGod, lezzgoblue, Foreshadow Of Darkness, RaveenaUchiha89, ANURADHA MISHRA, l-OnyxBlossom-l_, _ILoveSxS ****and all of the Guests_! Your kind words are sincerely appreciated, and it makes me so very happy to know that people like my story!_**

**_Ciao, for now! _**

**_~ Titania of Fairies. _**


	3. In Which It All Begins

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto, it belongs to Kishimoto - _sama _and all of the producers and editors which helped create the anime. This is purely for fun and stress relief.

**Warning and Tags: **NaruHina & SasuSaku are the main pairings with NejiTen, SuiKari, ObiKaka, InoKiba, SaiOC, KimiHaku, JūgoFū and ItaFem!Shisui as side pairings; if you don't like them, please don't read this story. Cold!Hinata and Fiesty!Sakura. Mentions of Drugs, Mafia, Guns, Blood, Death, Slightly Dark, Mentions of Abuse, Coarse Language, Perverted Stuff(Kakashi & Jiraiya), ships are slow burn.

OCC!Kimimaro: Slightly OCC!Sai.

Also this book has Yaoi ships, so if you don't like that please don't read it.

The later chapters _may _include mature content, but nothing much too explicit.

**Summary: **The drug is spreading. It's putrid scent wiping out millions in secret - falling into the hearts of thousands, and taking over their minds. It is fruitless to resist the drug, as it shows your best dreams. However one must remember, a dream only lasts for so long and eventually you have to wake up - yet Hinata and Sakura are the only ones who do. Soulmate!Magic!Mafia!AU SasuSaku NaruHina

PS - Jūgo is half Korean and Japanese in this book, because its hot as fuck and blends in with the plot of the story line - also Fū is half Spanish half Japanese, because why not.

_**I've been thinking about getting a Beta for 'Ashes', 'Sonder', '32 Seconds Away' and this book. If anyone is interested, please PM me about it ~ it certainly will help me get chapters out faster!**_

_**Enjoy the chapter!**_

**~ Titania of ****Fairies**

* * *

_**Prelude**_

"It's been a while since I've come to this planet."

Yellow eyes gleamed out into the night, as a lone figure moved through the city of Osaka; cutting any light which seen and enveloping that area in shrouded mystery. A pair of chapped lips twisted upwards in a smirk like fashion, as the woman jumped from rooftop to rooftop, unseen by the civilians who were walking below her. Her body was dressed in a tight, black metallic jumpsuit, and her face was masked by a scarf - the only thing visible was the red mark on her forehead.

"I had hoped that things had changed, but seems that other than an update in this 'technology', everything is just the same as before."

As the person stopped and stared at the people below her, she sighed and shook her head - a sinister aura lurking behind her body.

"Yet it seems that humans are despicable. How disappointing." She muttered, her eyes deceptively calm and her voice sweeter than a pot of honey; one which attracted all of the bees.

"They are helpless little creatures, who have no other care but to try and fit into society - to feel like they belong."

A cold laugh escaped from her lips. "They don't even know when their being used - nor do they mind. As long as they get what they want their fine with anything; selfish little shits."

A hum came from her mouth, and woman raised her head up towards the sky. "Thousands of people die every day, but no one cares. Why? Because it's not directly affecting them, and yet, when they are in trouble they expect others to help them; what a hypocritical world."

Taking her hood off, the woman let her thick purple hair, fall down her back in waves - as her eyes glowed once more; this time making the night sky light up. "I will show them the truth that is the world, and expose the falsity that is freedom. A new world will be made and those who can't stand up to the expectations will be purged."

Her lips twisted into a small cynical smile as she spoke for the last time.

"Prepare yourself Earth, for my** Εκατό θάνατοι** will be coming - and this time, they will leave no survivors."

* * *

**...**

**...**

* * *

_"Just a young gun with a quick fuse._

_I was uptight, wanna let loose._

_I was dreaming of bigger things_

_And wanna leave my own life behind__."_

_\- Imagine Dragons_

The darkness behind her eyes began to fade, as her breathing began to shallow - alongside of the distinct awareness that began to creep into her head. Her eyelids fluttered open to the calm and soothing sound of humming, which brought Sakura out of her deep slumber - well, that alongside of the squabbling of the two idiots she called 'friends'.

"What the fuck did you say to me!?" Ah, that voice - even after spending years with the person who had it, the pink haired girl still found it annoying. Maybe it was because the person who had it was _so fricken' loud._

Like what the hell. Did they not see her sleeping!? Talk about common decency - oh that was right, they didn't have any.

Still, it was odd that they'd wake her up; especially when they knew she needed sleep.

Something was really fricken' fishy here.

Still with her current mindset, the young girl really didn't give a fuck; the world could be ending, and she'd still be pissed off if someone woke her up. Which prompted her reaction to the following few actions her 'friends' took.

"I called you a public nuisance. I do not understand how you are vexed about it, considering the fact that it suits you completely. Therefore, should I now call you deaf as well?" Emotionless with a tinge of amusement and mocking - oh she knew whose voice that was. Honestly, it seemed as if her cousin really had a death wish, if he was talking like that when she was sleeping.

How many did she tell him that when he insulted someone, that she wanted to be around and awake? After all, it was hilarious to see their reactions.

"You wanna fucking go, albino?"

"You guys...stop fighting." A third voice desperately called out from the other two; the pinkette had to sigh at how thoughtful he was - honestly, he was like a cinnamon bun. The only calm person in their group - well, other than Yue, but even she was like a sadist in disguise. "Or else Sakura - noona is going to wake up, and she won't be happy."

Damn right she wasn't happy. This was the longest she had ever slept for months, and those two idiots just _had _to go and ruin it, didn't they?

Those fuckers how dare they do that - even if it was for a good reason.

Honestly, Sakura was so glad that chakra sensing was a thing - without it, she might've hit the duo of boys harder than she was going to. Considering her mood, she would've even broken their bones and refused to heal them for a while; although, that would be giving the world a slice of justice for all of the damage that they did. Sakura was just glad that Fū wasn't with them, or else the fight would've been much more explosive.

"Too late Jūgo." She muttered, causing the youngest member in the van, to have his head swivel towards her, as she groggily wiped her eyes. With her muscles straining, the twenty four year old pushed herself up, before glaring at the other two people in the car, her anger slowly simmering underneath the tops of his bones.

"Ah Pinky-" God dang, his voice was really infuriating, did he know that?

Before the white haired boy could even speak, the pink haired girl lunged forwards, grabbing both of the boys' head in her hands. Fisting their hair with her fingers, she moved her hands together, slamming their heads against each other. Usually she wouldn't lose control of her emotions so easily, however, her sleep deprived mind listened to no reasoning as her body trembled with a severe feeling of frustration.

Ignoring the way they both groaned in mild pain and surprise at the sudden attack, the emerald eyed girl growled, her tone low.

"Honestly you idiots! I was so fucking tired, I goddamn told you specifically, Suigetsu, Sai, to keep your shitty mouths quiet while I slept. But no! It seems you bastards have a death wish don't you?"

She only ever swore when she was angry so...all the time?

With every word she spoke the volume of her voice increased, and her knuckles ground down onto the tops of their heads, causing both of the boys to flinch and try to hold in the squeals of pain which came out of their mouths.

"Ugly-" Her cousin started, only for her to glare at him, causing him to wise up and shut his mouth _(would you look at that, it seems miracles did happen sometimes)._

With her irritation finally simmering down, the twenty four year old let of the hair in her hands, before pushing both of the boys to the side, and huffing; sliding back into her seat in the car.

Closing her eyes once, she sighed and massaged her head, trying to remove the pounding headache which had situated itself their. Then, the girl finally shifted so that she was sitting upright and straightened out her wrinkled brow - just in time for the fourth person in the car to speak up from his place in the front of the car.

"Um Noona, are you okay?"

Opening her emerald green eyes once more, Sakura landed her sight on spiked orange hair, which caused her to blink at the brightness of it, before shaking her head. As her vision trailed from the person's hair to their tanned skin, it finally landed on the red heart which was on the side of his face - before moving towards his reddish orange eyes; which were regarding her with something akin to worry.

Sighing once more, she attempted to smile, (however it probably came out to be more of a grimace) as she began to talk. "...Not really, but you can thank thing one and thing two for that."

"I take offense to that!"

Turning to the male who had protested, the female adult shot his light purple eyes a deathly glare, as they twinkled with mischief. As the man swiped his straight white hair, he smiled, showing off his pointy and sharp teeth, to the younger girl. His pale skin almost glistened in the sun, as he threw his head back, and began to laugh, the sound echoing off of the black car walls.

Opening her mouth, Sakura started to answer, but was interrupted with another voice. "Of course you take offense to that, Yuri - chan. Your fragile ego must've been hurt."

That did it.

"Sai!" The girl barked, turning to glare at her older cousin whom seemed unruffled, in fact, the younger girl spotted a sliver of mischievousness hidden in the depths of his onyx pupils. "Shut your fucking mouth! Or should I punch you again?"

Balking slightly, the twenty six year old male scooted back from the younger girl before smiling that false (blank) smile of his. His eyes regarded her cautiously and the black hair on his head only helped to show how translucent his skin was. It was almost see through, something which shocked and yet, intrigued the younger girl.

With his sharp teeth flashing the pink haired girl a cheeky grin, Suigetsu started to talk, teasing her as he did so. "Aww, is little pinky - chan annoyed from being woken up from her sleep? Does she need to take another nappy-" before he could finish his sentence however, his face was slammed into the tinted black window of the car; in courtesy of the said girls foot.

"GODDAMMIT SUI!" Sakura exclaimed, huffing as she pushed the twenty five year olds' face deeper into the glass window.

"Ow, ow, ow! Jesus woman stop it. I'm sorr- geez fuck-"

"Sakura, maybe you should let go of him..." Jūgo said softly, his worried expression causing the pinkette to sigh, before doing just that - grumbling underneath her breath about how pissed she was.

"How much more time will it take for us to arrive?" She asked, in her brain her headache pounded more than before; causing the twenty four year old to massage her temples. She usually wasn't this irritant, however, the lack of sleep was really getting to her, causing her head to lean back on the seat she was sitting on.

"Ah, we still have four hours to go."

Grunting, the young girl turned over in her seat. "I'm going to go back to sleep. Haku and Kimimaro are going to meet us at the station right?"

"Yes - at least, that's what Yue-ah told me."

Pausing, the only female turned to the front of the car before speaking, making sure her tone was perfectly neutral. "Fine then, I want you three to take out the trash this time. I did it last time, okay?"

"Alright pinky, you can go to sleep now." Suigetsu answered, after the youngest boy spoke his acceptance.

"Good. I better not wake up before we arrive at the house." The last jibe was pointed directly towards the two people on either side of her, who flinched, before beginning to whisper-argue among themselves.

"It was your fault she woke up!"

"I believe not, as it was your voice which shook her out of her daze. No surprise, even I wouldn't be able to sleep while hearing it."

"Oh you little-"

Hiding a smile, the twenty four year old closed her eyes before sighing softly, and shaking her head. While they were annoying brats, she would have them any other way - life would be far too bleak and dull without them. Besides, it wasn't like she could get them to stop being themselves; that wouldn't be good either. God forbid the day that Suigetsu and Sai stopped fighting; the pink haired girl suspected that would only happen if one of them died.

In the business that they were all in, that fact wasn't as far fetched as Sakura hoped for it to be.

Pushing away the cynical thoughts which haunted the back of her mind, the young girl waited for her body to calm down, before allowing the darkness to envelope her in its' lonely embrace.

Also known as sleep.

As for the person who was following them _(honestly, the signs were much too evident - after all, Suigetsu and Sai wouldn't wake her up like that randomly - there must've been some reason. Besides, following them in a car? Really? That was so original)_, she'd let the boys handle it. She had taken out the last group of small fry by herself, so she deserved to sit this one out. Besides, the pinkette was much too tired and if she had to fight right that second, she just might end up killing them all in her exhaustion and frustration.

Although in their profession that could be something which happened any day.

Damn. Bad thoughts were really addicting weren't they? It seemed that no matter what she did, Sakura couldn't quit them.

That wasn't a good thing-

_(and oh my Harishima, she was tired of it.)_

* * *

When the girl drifted off to sleep, Jūgo paused in his seat - before looking out the window; a sigh escaping his lips when he turned his attention towards the 'GPS' in front of them, before speaking.

"**_ELTIA5_**."

A sound buzzed from above him, before the entire interior of the car was covered with a black cover, one with a multitude of green lines glowing from the side. As the 'GPS' flipped into a projector, a hologram message appeared, causing a monotone female voice to come out from the back; making the three boy stiffen.

_**'Please enter the password.'**_

"YOLO bitches."

"Seriously, why did she pick that as a password? It's stupid-"

"Shut up Suigetsu, don't distract Jūgo."

_**Password: 'Y.O.L.O. bitches,' is accepted.**_

_**Facial recognition, scanning...**_

A ding came from the orange haired males right, as a thin, gray machine popped out of the supposed 'airbag'. The youngest member in the car, relaxed his facial muscles as a red light came from the machine and moved over his face; ending its job with a small beep.

_**Scanning is complete.**_

**'Hello Jūgo**

**What may I do for you today?'**

"Oh so she actually lets 'her' call him by his name! That is so unfair!"

Ignoring his hyungs' whining, the younger boy continued. "**_ELTIA5 _**Find out which cars are trailing us. I want the type of car and the number plate."

"What about where they are from?" Sai piped up from the back seat, causing the one in the front to repeat the other males statement quietly.

_**'**_**Understood. **

_**Collecting data...'**_

_**'Data collected.'**_

**'Ah. From my resources I have concluded that t****hree silver cars are following you, they are all Jeeps', and the version is Grand Cherokee.**

**The first one is the color blue; has a number plate of 8671 332 and is from Busan, South Korea.**

**The second one is the color silver; has a number plate of 2331 768 and is from Barcelona, Spain.**

**The third one is the color black; has a number plate of 6138 732 and is from Tokyo, Japan.'**

**'What is your next plan of action?**

_**Fight or Flight?'**_

"Well what do you say guys? Fight or flight?" The question was asked with a speck of curiosity, but it was mostly drowned out with amusement and mocking - as they all knew the answer that they would choose - not that it was necessarily the right one.

"Remember Jūgo, no sorrows." Sai whispered softly, a melancholic look on his face - his eyes foggy and distant as they took in the event of the past, pain reflected on his face.

"And no regrets." The orange eyed twenty two year old replied, before turning to the other man in the back. "Buckle up bastards, it's going to get bumpy."

* * *

Halfway through the fight, the opposition disappeared - they just vanished.

It should've been nerve wracking and mind blowing for them - after all, their enemies had just vanished into thin air. However this wasn't the first time that this happened and it certainly wouldn't be the last; and it gave no joy to the two oldest ones, who were itching for a fight and knew exactly who had taken it away from them.

Damn that Yue, making sure that they didn't work on their vacation.

The irony really was astounding.

**...**

**...**

* * *

As sunlight streamed through the blinds, Sakura felt her nose scrunch up as the warmth of the rays fell onto her skin; inevitably rising her partly from her untroubled slumber. Tensing, the girl sharpened her senses; waiting to hear if there was anybody else near her - when her worries were proved to be wrong, the pink haired girl allowed herself to wake up. Wrinkling her nose, the pinkette opened her eyes and winced as the light entered them - causing her to shut them and jerk her head to the side; a frown forming on her lips. Looking around, the green eyed girl crossed off the idea of her being kidnapped _(besides who dared do something like that to her; the consequences were far too risky)_. Not to mention if that was the case, she'd be handcuffed or drugged - something which she could deal with easily.

So no, she wasn't kidnapped - then where was she?

With a sigh escaping from her parted lips, the young girl pushed herself up before blinking wearily, her emerald eyes landing on the dark mahogany clock which was directly across from her. With the numbers turning out to be exactly eight, the twenty four year old groaned, before shifting so that she could get to the edge of the bed; her bare feet touching the cold wood floor.

With her head pounding _(for once, not because she'd gotten drunk off of her ass, believe it or not)_, the girl clutched her head as she tried to remember the events which occurred yesterday.

Where was she?

The smell of freshly made pancakes drifted through the cracks of the door, causing the young girl to suppress a smile; her brain finally registering the place which she was in. Memories of the night prior came back to her and Sakura finally grinned when she realized that she was at the destination which they were supposed to arrive at.

Pushing off from the bed, the young girl stretched her hands above her head as she lazily made her way out the door and down the stairs, into the kitchen where her heart and soul lay.

Her awkward family.

Well _most_ of her family.

* * *

**...**

**...**

* * *

"What's happening to the prisoners?" A calm voice echoed throughout the room, the owner of it clothed in a black cloak - one which covered everything from the sight of her person in front of her.

"They are refusing to talk my lady." With his voice trembling, the middle aged man cleared his throat before speaking once more - his heart beating in his ears. "The leader has threatened to exsanguinate himself whenever we get too close."

A scoff exited the womans mouth as she uncrossed her legs and sighed, a single brow of hers rising up. "The old biting the tongue and bleeding to death trick eh? Heh."

The male stayed silent, his teeth chattering inside of his mouth as he tried to not fidget as the atmosphere in the room grew colder. The indigo haired female shook her head - before a small smirk formed on her lips. The man bit back a whimper, as the woman stood up her hands coming to rest in front of her body. She then spoke, a dark amusement along with an ice sharp tone laced in her voice. "Sheep are quite amusing are they not? They act like wolves and talk much too big for _my _tastes. They want to play with the big kids huh?"

Moving so that she swept past the man, her body seeming to glide across the floor, the young girl reached the door - her left eye almost seemed to glow _red, _underneath the silver face mask that it was under.

"Well, it's their own fault that they'll get _**teared apart**_."

In a moments notice, the woman was out of the room - causing the temperature to increase almost immediately. The other man sighed, as he tried to steady his heart and calm his breathing; all the while feeling somewhat sorry for the prisoners which were in the cell below. After all, everyone in the ANBU knew that Lady Xue Yue was possessive over the people she loved.

Therefore, it was no surprise that the following day Tsunade - sama received a top secret report with a total word count of 28 words. _Just 28 fucking words for a top secret letter - one which should've been over six fucking pages long. _Tsunade sighed as she read that file, her hands itching to throw something at the said girl, before she sighed and shook her head - a wry smile on her face. Her successor really was awkward, wasn't she? That girl had no idea how to handle social communications - something which only made her more endearing to the older woman; also it added another thing she had to teach her before she stepped down. If humanity and mercy was added in as well, Hinata would be the package deal.

Ignoring the fact that y'know, she killed people for a living - but it was bad people so that made it better.

Somewhat.

* * *

**...**

**...**

* * *

"What happened when I was asleep?" Was the first question the pink haired girl asked, as she sat down onto the brown table, her stomach growling when the smell of the pancakes hit her harder than before.

"Nothing much, it was only the usual. The car ride was long - Sui - hyung and Sai - hyung were fighting - I'm surprised that **_ELTIA5_** didn't kick us out. It wouldn't be the first time that 'she' did do that." Jūgo replied next to her, his orange hair laying limp on his face, which was crinkled up - exhaustion still evident in his eyes.

Opening her mouth, the girl want to speak, but was interrupted by a new voice - one which caused a smile to grow on her face. "Fū redesigned 'her', she said something about how it would be too troublesome if the machine decided to kick out one of the idiots out during a mission - especially if it was in mid air. Although, I disagree - I think that would a wonderful idea." The natural husk in the voice caused it to recognize itself in pinkettes brain and Sakura whirled out of her seat before lunging at the younger boy - kissing him on the cheek.

"Kimimaro! It's been so long!" The twenty four year old replied, warmth filling her body as she held the boy close. "How's my favorite twin been?"

"I'm your only twin Sakura." The man replied again, his own lime green eyes dancing with mirth. "That's the definition of the word twin."

With her mind flashing to the color blonde, the emerald eyed girl pushed that thought away, before smiling and chuckling, before replying. "Fine. You're my favorite sibling then."

"I suppose I should be thanking you, even though you _have _no other siblings." The male said, with his pale pink lips twisting into a smile, complementing the paleness of his skin and the vibrancy of his eyes. The two red dots which were on his face stood out the most to her, alongside of the red eyeliner along the side of his eyes. Threading a hand through his silver hair, the boy smiled down at her - his 5'11 height letting him look down at her own 5'6 size. Damn him for being so tall.

"Of course you should be." She said confidently, causing Jūgo to laugh softly, bringing the sibling attention towards himself.

"What?" The two of them asked in sync, causing them to stare at each other in confusion. "Stop doing that."

A peal of laughter and the new smell of chocolate pancakes caused the siblings to stop with their new realization and turn their attention forwards towards the man who was holding the food - his rhubarb lips twisted together, in order to stop himself from laughing.

Long brown was swept up into a bun, as flawless beige skin held a pair of caramel brown eyes and a shapely nose and face, which was adorned with streaks of baking powder - most likely from the pancakes. A small With a squeal escaping her lips, the young girl grinned and approached the older boy, before taking the plate out of his hands and setting it down onto the table and hugging him. A feat which was quite easy as he was only a few centimeters taller than her.

"Haku! You are a gods' savior!" Sakura said, before settling herself down and grabbing herself a plate and filling it with the breakfast.

"Really?" Haku replied, before shaking his head and teasing her. "One would think that you only like me for my food, Sa - chan."

"It's one of the rewards." Kimimaro replied in his sisters place, before snaking a hand through his boyfriends' waist and pressing a kiss to his head - before grinning and speaking once more, his tone full of teasing. "That and your looks - you should probably check yourself in the mirror babe."

The only girl in the room had to agree with that one there. How where all the boys she loved so pretty? It was much too concerning and a potful of envy, for any other woman. Thankfully, Sakura was past that stage - it would do no good for her to mourn over her looks - especially when she had darker things to mourn over.

Still, it did shock her at certain times.

"Oh stop it, I _know_ I have stuff on my face."

"You still look beautiful." The white haired boy countered back, kissing the side of the shorter ones neck; causing the said male to laugh before pushing him away.

"_Hyungs_, could you please keep your PDA to a limit here? We're trying to eat." The orange haired male spoke, causing the two of them to separate.

"If Fū was here, she'd be teasing you both mercilessly; before trying to get you both to kiss." The twenty four year old said, as poured the maple syrup over her pancakes; causing the two boys to look at each other, before laughing.

"She _would_ do that." Haku replied, sitting down in the seat next to Jūgo - Kimimaro following right behind him. "Fū - chan would also steal all of the pancakes, submerge them in syrup and eat them, so it's best that we hurry up - just in case she arrives to steal them."

Jūgo let out a silent laugh at that, his face gaining a fond look when he thought of the older girl - a dopey smile evident on his face when he shook his head.

As the statement wasn't that far fetched, _(Fū had once crashed a party just to take the food, before leaving - effectively silencing the entire room. Hi- Yue had been grateful, the chatter had been giving her a headache)_ therefore, causing the four of them to hastily pile up the food onto their plates - voices beginning to fill the hall as they ate.

When they were halfway through the dish, Suigetsu came bursting in, sweat dripping from his face and his polo shirt sticking to his chest. Wrinkling her nose, Sakura winced when the older boy let out a triumphant yelp at beating his newest record - only for Haku to immidietly shoot him down.

"If you want to eat my food, then you better go take a bath."

"But-"

"Take a fucking bath now Suigetsu - kun, or else I'll make you."

Grumbling, the silver haired boy stumbled up the stairs, causing Jūgo to let out a sigh, before gaining a fond smile. "Haku - hyung, you do realize that Sai - hyung is taking a bath right now?"

"But there's more than one bathroom, right?" The only girl in the room asked, but was only given a smile and a wink by the shortest boy.

"It's funny to hear them argue." The brunette admitted, causing the white haired Haruno to sigh, before shaking his head.

"Only you would find their arguing entertaining - it just gives me a headache."

"Both Fū and you have very strange tastes in amusement." Jūgo mused, his lips twisting into a small grin.

"You'd know all about Fū, huh Jūgo?" Sakura teased, causing the orange haired boy to turn red.

"Shut up noona." He muttered, causing Sakura to throw her head back and laugh, before pausing and narrowing her eyes. "Where is Fū anyways? I thought she was supposed to meet us here?"

"Yue held her back. Something about catching sheep." Kimimaro muttered, causing a silence to fall upon the table and the deep voice of secrets to creep up on them.

They all had gone hunting with Yue and they knew what happened to those who got caught.

Sakura would be lying if some part of her didn't like it.

That was just how fucked up she'd become - but it was okay, they all were fucked up in their own ways.

"Let me guess, she took care of the fight before it even started huh? That's a pity, I'm sure that Suigetsu and Sai were looking forwards to a fight." The pink haired girl muttered, before she heard the thud which came from upstairs, followed by a loud shout and the familiar arguing between the two boys. Wrinkling her nose, the girl shook her head and spoke once more. "Scratch that, if they had fought, I have no doubt that we'd be facing a large scale attack."

"That's probably why she did it." The youngest boy in the room admitted, before being cut off by Haku.

"And I for one-" The caramel eyed boy started, "Would've lost my entertainment, as they would be in bed due to their wounds from pissing off both of you_._"

The silence broke as laughter erupted one all sides of the table, the sound only being cut when the white haired boy kissed his boyfriend on the cheek, before teasing him. "May the heavens end, the day you don't get your entertainment."

"True that." Haku replied, causing Sakura to sigh and shake her head, her lips upturning to a grin - only for her ears to hear a vibrating noise from her phone.

Putting her utensils down and picking it up, the young girl read the unfamiliar number which was calling her, her muscles tensing as debated whether or not to pick up the phone. While it would be common sense for her to just ignore the call, her instincts were tugging at her brain and telling her to pick it up. Now, the twenty four year old listened to her instincts, almost like one would listen to their best friend; after all, they had gotten her put of life and death situations before. Therefore, when her head told her to pick up the call, she did.

The outcome however, was not what she expected.

"Hello, who is this?"

_"Is this Haruno Sakura?"_

She stiffened. "Yeah."

There was a pause on the other end, and then-

_"Sakura? It's me."_

The nostalgia came back, hitting her with a shock so big her breath left her lungs. The voice was familiar and yet, different - almost like the person who it suited. There was no way that it was her, right? It had been ten years since they had last spoken - so the pinkette found it odd that her mind instantly knew who it was. Her voice quivered as she spoke, disbelief and skepticism coating the edge of her tone - suspicion and hesitation not lingering too far behind.

"Is this..._Ino_?" '**_How did you get my number? __Why are you calling me?'_**

Her instant guard shocked her. After all if this were to happen seven years ago she wouldn't be this cautious, this wary. In fact she would've been surprised in a good way and would've jumped to talk to her ex-best friend - but she wasn't the naive girl she was before and what did she know, this could be another trap. Besides, even if it wasn't a trap, what did her old ex friend want? It had been ten years since she'd last talked to her, and Ino wasn't someone to call and checkup on how you were doing.

Then again, what did Sakura know about the older girl? Even when they were younger, she learned nothing about her, as the cover over her eyes left her blind to others.

_"Yeah it's me. Are you free now?"_

"...Yeah. Why?" **_'What do you want?'_**

_"Can we talk?"_

Well damn, that wasn't worrying at all.

"Sure."

* * *

**_..._**

**_..._**

* * *

"One wouldn't expect you to get so mad, after all, I'm pretty sure that the group can handle themselves. After all, they wouldn't be Jonins' if they couldn't handle something this tiny." Green hair was being combed, as a dark skinned woman laughed at the other female in the room for her protectiveness.

"Hmm..." A single lavender eye opened, and pupiless gaze was almost scorching as the younger one of the two spoke. "Did you know that one assault is occurred every forty one seconds and that one murder is committed every thirty minutes?"

"I don't see why I would need to know that. After all, this organization probably contributes to those deaths - I didn't expect you to be so morbid Hina - chan."

Crimson lips twisted into a frown. "Don't call me that. Also, you're proving my point; ANBU has many enemies who are contributing to the rather high death count. I'd rather not let themselves get killed because of suicidal techniques and self exhaustion. It's their vacation, they deserve to rest."

The older woman whirled around - the ruby colored butterfly on her neck standing out due to the low cut top she was wearing and the contrast to deep brown of her skin. Placing her hands on her hips, the twenty five year old began to speak. "Fine, but I could say the same to you, fucking hypocrite! You should be resting, you haven't slept all night!"

"What are you, Sakura now?" The twenty one year old asked, with a single eyebrow of hers raised.

"Yes. Did you like my impersonation?"

"No."

"Well fuck you too then." Fū said sarcastically, the smile still not leaving her face.

"No thanks."

"Come _on _Hina - chan! I didn't mean it like that, although I will admit that you are hot as-"

"Shut up Fū, your blabbering is giving me a headache. Your work is done here, go on vacation." As if punctuating her point, the girl raised a hand towards her head and began to press her temples.

"Only if you come with _meee_!"

"You know I can't do that, my face cannot be seen."

"Just wear one of those long cloak thingies which you like - they cover your face don't they?"

Blinking once, the younger girl deadpanned. "...Because seeing someone walking in a black cloaking with their face covered isn't suspicious at all."

"Right! I'm glad you agree!"

Her right eye twitched. "...Idiots. I'm friends with complete idiots."

"Aww, you finally admitted that we're friends!" The older girl singsonged - her hands going to hug the other girl. "I'm so proud of you!"

"...You have five seconds to get out of this room, before my sparring practice will begin."

With her amber eyes widening, the girl hastily took a step back. "N - Now hold on a minute-"

"One."

"Lets talk about this..."

"_Two._"

"Eek! ByeIlovedon'tmissmissmetoomuch!"

She was out of the door before the indigo haired girl said three.

Hinata sighed, a small smile forming on her face for the first time in a while - it's corners upturned with amusement and fondness. "Well, that was easier than I expected."

* * *

**_..._**

**_..._**

* * *

"We've been getting a spike in the energy levels, near Osaka." A man with brown hair remarked, as he stared at the report in front of him - his eyebrows knit together, in both confusion and slight nervousness. "There's been another one near Tokyo as well - something which isn't that shocking, but still concerning."

"Six eights of Team T.R.U.T.H is in Osaka, therefore we don't need to worry about that." Senju Tsunade, replied to her subordinates comment, her hazel eyes narrowing - as her lips twisted into a frown. "It doesn't matter that they're on vacation; they are still ANBU agents - they should always be on their guard.

"And what about Tokyo?" The same man asked again, his bland face pulling into a confused look; something mob characters were quite good at.

"I'll send Jaguar and Tiger over their - the problem should be solved without a fuss. Make sure to contact me the moment you see something strange." The blonde said, before dismissing the man in the room; waiting until he left in order to speak with the person who'd hidden himself.

"Come out Jaguar, I know you're here."

"It wasn't something I wanted to hide." The man replied, materializing into his form, in front of the womans desk.

Tanned wrinkled skin was partly hidden by an orange mask, while the mans' lone eyes reflected the color of agony; black lines running through the purple - grey pupil. Black hair was spiked upwards, and the rest of the persons body was cover by a high neck cloak - hiding everything but his muscles and his aura; which was imposing and took up most of the space in the room.

"Calm down brat, there's nobody to impress right now." Tsunade said, rolling her eyes at the man _(who was still a boy in her eyes) _dramatic appearance.

The atmosphere suddenly became lighter, as the onyx haired man evened up on his presence. "...You do realize that the energy spikes aren't a coincidence right?"

"I'm three steps ahead of you gaki, come back and tell me that when you have 44 years of experience on you."

"I thought you were 72, wouldn't that mean that you'd have _61 _years of experience-" The boy started, only to be cut off by the Godaime Hokage's irritated expression.

"Watch your tongue brat, I'm not that old - nor will I ever be. So shut up before I do something that I definitely won't regret."

"Ma'am, yes Ma'am."

"Now, what do you think of the energy spikes." The hazel eyed woman asked, watching as the younger man instantly straightened up and how his face became serious.

"...Honestly, the only reason I'm worried is because the same thing has been happening in our bases in both Mexico and London." His purple eye almost seemed to glow as the man said this, causing the other person in the room to hum, before nodding.

Continuing onwards, the thirty three year old began to speak; "Not to mention - there's been reports of hurricanes occurring in Arica, Chile; something which hasn't happened in _many _years. Somehow, these things don't seem to be adding up to me."

"I'm glad we're on the same page then." The woman replied, before raising her eyebrow. "I think you know what to do; after all it isn't you first time on the job. Take Tiger with you and leave tomorrow and if anything strange occurs report back to me immidietly."

"Hai Hokage - sama!" Jaguar replied, mock saluting - before disappearing into thin air; as he hoping to get away, before the woman got even more mad than she already was and decided to make the fight physical.

"That boy..." Tsunade muttered, a wry smile pulling at her lips. "He could laugh, even in the face of devil."

Shaking her head, the blonde averted her attention to the stack of papers in front of her; before sighing, a pained expression pulling at her face at how many things she had to read over. With a frown pulling at her pink lips, the sixty one year old called her assistant up to her office - an irritated look on her face.

"Shizune! Bring in the sake; I'm going to need it if I have to survive this paperwork."

* * *

**...**

**...**

* * *

Her mind was in a fit of confusion, and Sakura found herself leaning back as her fingers fiddled with the phone in her hands. The other girls words echoed in her brain, and the twenty four year old sighed as she pondered over what to do next. Flipping open her phone, the pinkette dialed in a number, before bringing it to her ears - her heart hammering in her chest and her teeth sinking into her bottom lips; biting the flesh almost absent mindlessly. The past phone call came into her head as the line picked up - causing the female to fall silent as another voice appeared on the other end.

_"Sakura."_ The quietness of the tone shocked her out of her thoughts, and it took the girl a few moments to realize that the person she called wasn't the person who'd picked up.

"Y - Yue?" She stuttered in surprise, before quickly controlling herself. "Oh sorry, I thought I called Fū..."

_"You did. The idiot just ran out of here and forgot her phone on the counter. I'll have **ELTIA5 **send it to her later - and you may be at ease, Sakura."_

Relaxing and chuckling slightly, the young girl felt her mood lift as she began to talk again. "Alright then - I suppose you sent her packing away didn't you? I'll just talk to her when she gets here."

There was a pause, and then- _"Sakura, are you okay?"_

Taken aback at how quickly the younger girl had figured that something was wrong _(then again, she shouldn't have been; Hinata had always been observant)_ the twenty four year old spoke of what was on her mind, knowing that their leader wouldn't let her off if she didn't. "Ah, I'm kind of conflicted now - it's nothing to with ANBU so..."

_"I see."_ They both knew that when it came to emotional support the green haired girl and sensei was the best out of all of them. _"You may talk to me if something is on your mind - unless it is about feelings. Please don't tell me that it is about feelings."_

Stifling her laughter, as she knew the youngest of them wouldn't like that, Sakura began to express her thoughts. "Nothing like that, I'm just conflicted over something."

_"Thoughts? That I can help with, I believe the term is 'spill the beans?'"_

At that statement the pinkette couldn't help, but feel a certain sense of fondness rise in heart for her friend, her laughter now spilling out completely. "Oh Hinata." Shaking her head she continued onwards. "I got a call a few minutes ago, it was from an old..._friend _of mine."

_"Ah, and from how long ago was this 'friend' of yours from."_

"Ten years ago." The pinkette answered, causing the girl on the other end to hum thoughtfully.

_"And what was this call about which had made you so conflicted?"_ Her voice was neutral, but older girl knew the bluenette; she was sure that her eyebrows were raised and that her arms were crossed over her chest.

"We-I-" At the memory of the words, the older girl became flustered.

_"Slow Sakura, deep breaths."_

Calming herself down, the pinkette began to talk once more. "I got a call from Ino and she- she wanted to reminisce about old times. So she decided to host a middle school reunion and wanted to invite me."

"...Is that all?"

"_Hinata!" _The twenty four year old exclaimed, slightly shocked at the girls response. "This is serious."

_"Rather than worry about your answer, I'm more concerned over the thought of how she has your phone number."_

"Apparently she contacted my dad, and he gave it to her. Meddlesome idiot." The pinkette muttered the last part, but she was sure that the other girl heard it - it would've been odd if she hadn't, her hearing was impeccable.

_"I see...as for the actual answer, I supposed that it was quite obvious for you. It is your vacation and I suppose that you find it pleasant to meet up with other people."_

Sakura sighed once more. "It's not that I don't want to go..."

_"Then go."_

"But-"

_"Sakura."_ Her voice was calm and light, almost as if she was amused._ "It is a simple decision, one which won't really affect your everyday life. You've made such choices unconsciously, so what's really the problem here?"_

The blunt rebuttal had the short haired girl silent, as she tried to quiet her racing heart and search for the proper words to express her emotions at the sudden understand of the truth.

"It's...odd..."

_"I have gone into the mind of a psychopath; I doubt that I will find anything you say remotely disturbing."_

"Dude too much information." The older girl started, before becoming serious. "But honestly, the reason I'm so worried is because eight grade was an eye opener for my horrid childhood. It was when I made peace with the world and peace with myself."

_"...You don't want to reopen closed wounds." _It was said as if it was a answer, not a question; but that was the normal with the younger girl.

"It's not just that." The older of the two rushed to to say, before she took in a deep breath. "It's been ten years Hinata, we've all gone on our own paths; mine more...dangerous than theirs. First I don't want that to affect them-"

_"You're on **break **Sakura, therefore I have made sure that you are all secured. Not that you can't handle anything that comes your way." _The girl interrupted, causing the twenty four year old to rush out her next words.

"-I dunno it's just I'm nervous to see how we all turned out to be-"

_"If you're worried about how they will think of you I suggest that you shut up right now, before I get mad."_

"I..." Trailing off, Sakura bit her bottom lip, once more lost in her own thoughts. "It's not that - I really don't give a fuck about they think of me...but I'm just worried about meeting the people I once knew and seeing what they've become. Isn't it better to just let the bones stay buried?"

Silence and then-

_"Did you just use a quote from sensei?"_ Hinata's voice was filled with shock, a change from her usual blank tone.

"_That's _what you're focusing on? From everything that I've just said, that's what stands out the most to you." The pinkette replied, her eyebrows knitting together.

_"DON'T do that again. I have to deal with his stupid philosophical statements everyday, please don't let it infect you."_

Somewhat cheered up from her deep thoughts, Sakura laughed, before shaking her head; her hair shaking from side to side. "Alright fine, I won't do it again."

_"Good. And Sakura?" _

"Yeah?"

_"Whatever you decide in the end you are still part of our team; which makes you one of mine. Anyone tell you anything different, beat them up, okay?" _

A smile spread across her face, and happiness flooded her core, as the twenty four year old replied. "Yeah, I will. Thanks."

_"You're welcome, now have fun on your vacation. Bye."_

The line dropped dead, and Sakura had to sigh at the awkwardness of their team leader. With a small grin tugging at her lips, the pink haired girl once again leaned back in her seat; before going through her options, her mind working on overload.

Fuck it, she'd already made up her mind a while ago; besides, she _was_ curious to see how everyone had grown over the last ten years - especially the two boys who showed her the truth.

A few moments later, the female shook her head and dialed another number into the phone; her emerald eyes gleaming in a state of determination.

"Hey Ino, it's me, Sakura. As for the reunion...count me in."

* * *

**_Files From Yue_**

**_Tsunade - sama,_**

**_..._**

_'The sheep in wolves skin have shown themselves._

_I took them to the butcher._

_The meat is rotten._

_Hyena and I are going hunting._

_We'll bring back more.'_

_\- Tiger_

* * *

_**I am so sorry you guys - as I know that this chapter is extremely late.**_

_**I have no excuses, other for the fact that I've been having writers block and instead of writing, I was trying to finish up my summer homework. Algebra Two is hard, and it doesn't help that I take longer to understand math, than I should. Urgh.**_

_**However, I will try to update more regularly and I'm three-fourths through finishing the next chapter for 'Ashes', '32 Seconds Away'; and halfway through finishing the next chapter of 'Sonder'. I hope you can forgive me, and that you enjoyed the chapter as things are beginning to spice up a bit.**_

_**Comments and criticism are highly appreciated!**_

_**Thank you, **_hinatayvonne **_for your comment! _**

**_Ja ne for now my friends~ _**

**_\- Titania of Fairies_**


	4. The Left Eye

Disclaimer: I don't Naruto, it belongs to Kishimoto - _sama _and all of the producers and editors which helped create the anime. This is purely for fun and stress relief.

**Warning and Tags: **NaruHina & SasuSaku are the main pairings with NejiTen, SuiKari, ObiKaka, InoKiba, SaiOC, KimiHaku, JūgoFū and ItaFem!Shisui as side pairings; if you don't like them, please don't read this story. Cold!Hinata and Fiesty!Sakura. Mentions of Drugs, Mafia, Guns, Blood, Death, Slightly Dark, Mentions of Abuse, Coarse Language, Perverted Stuff(Kakashi & Jiraiya), ships are slow burn.

OCC!Kimimaro: Slightly OCC!Sai.

Also this book has Yaoi ships, so if you don't like that please don't read it.

The later chapters _may _include mature content, but nothing much too explicit.

**Summary: **The drug is spreading. It's putrid scent wiping out millions in secret - falling into the hearts of thousands, and taking over their minds. It is fruitless to resist the drug, as it shows your best dreams. However one must remember, a dream only lasts for so long and eventually you have to wake up - yet Hinata and Sakura are the only ones who do. Soulmate!Magic!Mafia!AU SasuSaku NaruHina

PS - Jūgo is half Korean and Japanese in this book, because its hot as fuck and blends in with the plot of the story line - also Fū is half Spanish half Japanese, because eh, why not?

_**Enjoy the book!**_

**~ Titania of Fairies**

* * *

**Prelude**

There were three things that had to happen in a day, in order for Uchiha Sasuke to call it an amazing one.

Number one, he'd wake up at five o'clock in the morning, before drinking his black coffee _(he wasn't like his brother, god damn, the amount of sugar that Itachi put in his coffee should've been illegal. The younger man wondered how older Uchiha didn't have diabetes from the amount of sugar he consumed in a day. It was like he was drinking the coffee just to eat the sugar.) _which, as he was often told, was as bitter as his soul.

Number two, he'd get a call from the dobe - one which usually started with an overly cheerful voice _(seriously, while the onyx haired man knew that he was wasn't a pleasure to talk to, he did wonder how Naruto's colleagues handled his overbearing personality ever single fucking day. Then he realized that they either ignored him, or were just as fucked up as the blonde haired boy himself. Sasuke would know, after all, he was the same.) _and ended, with his voice bantering back insults to the Uchiha. While the boy did become more mature _(mostly due to Minato's influence), _his cheery nature was still an evident in his life. Their daily phone calls often amused the onyx haired man, not that he'd ever admit it - the earth would have to be flat in order for Sasuke to admit that he was fond of the blonde Namikaze.

Finally, the third and last thing that Sasuke had to do; was come home in the evening, make dinner and have spent the entire day without feeling the burn of the ornament on his chest. This was the only one which always failed.

_(How? How could she have know-)_

Therefore, his days were never good - the only way they could ever be even reasonable was if he could get a certain pair of haunting emerald eyes out of his head. Then again, that was close to impossible; as the amount of questions he had for that person was astounding, but he highly doubted that any of them could ever be answered; as the person who held them seemed to have almost disappeared off of the face of the earth. The last thing which she had texted him about, was that she'd taken up an apprentice post from the famous doctor Senju Tsunade; which was over the course of seven years ago.

Seven from her last text, but ten years from seeing her face.

_(That wasn't the only reason why his days were bad- in fact, if his eyes would just stop their insistent warnings of doom then maybe he'd be content with his life. Then again, the word content wasn't really in Sasuke's book) _

It really had been that long ago, time had flown by him like a temptress - luring his body into the familiarity of it's home and letting his mind pass by with the wind. Before he knew it, he'd be on his deathbed - lamenting about everything that he did wrong in his life.

Blinking out of his daze, the twenty three year old looked down at the buzzing phone in his hand - a smirk twitching at his lips when he realized that it was the dobe calling. Contemplating whether or not to pick it up, the Uchiha let out a sigh, before pressing the green button and bringing the phone up towards his ears - his voice lifting with amusement as he spoke.

"Did you miss me that much dobe?"

_"Eh?! Who would miss you? Stupid teme, that isn't the reason I'm calling!"_ The blue eyed boy - he should say _man, _but well, he certainly didn't act like one - responded, causing an involuntary smile to appear on Sasuke's lips.

"Get on it then, I don't have all day you know." Maybe he really should've been nicer, but being nice wasn't really something which he enjoyed; so he didn't do it.

_"Fine. Sheesh, somebody must've pissed in your cereal this morning..."_

"Dobe."

_"Gah, okay, okay. Anyways, it's about the reunion."_

With his eyebrows twisting upwards, the onyx eyed Uchiha responded. "...The one that Yamanaka is hosting?"

_"Yeah - you could call her by her first name, ya'know? After all, we've all been friends for ten years."_ His voice was cheerful, but tinged with a melancholic tone. So he felt too, huh? The passing of time.

Ignoring how Yamanaka wasn't his friend _(really, he could just about stand her on a good day - although she had gotten over her fangirling; something which made her much more bearable), _Sasuke continued on wards as he unlocked the door to his apartment. "As you were saying before? Or have you forgot already?"

_"Shut it bastard. I thought that you'd be interested in this news, especially since it's about Sakura - chan."_

**_'Sakura?'_**

With his hands freezing on the door knob, the onyx haired boy swallowed the lump in his throat as he tried to process the thoughts in his brain. Blinking rapidly, the man took the phone from his ears, only to stare down at it and shake his head, trying to get out of his daze.

_"-uke - teme? Sasuke - teme? TEME? You there?"_

Wincing, the man brought the phone back to his ears, before forcing a sigh and calming himself down.

"Yeah dobe, I'm here. I was just having trouble opening the door." He replied, before entering his house and shutting the said door - causing the blonde Uzumaki to laugh.

_"Alright, I was just checking. So, do you want to know the news or not?"_

"Get on with it." Sasuke replied, trying to sound uninterested. "I have things to do today."

_"Rude. Fine. Apparently Ino - chan got a hold of Sakura - chan's new number and invited her to the reunion. And guess what? She said yes!"_

Biting his lips, Sasuke paused and pondered over his thoughts; trying to deny the coils of excitement that he felt. "And what does that have to do with me?"

_"Yah, stop being a tsundere teme. You had questions to ask Sakura - chan, did you not? Besides, it'll be nice to see her after so long. So are you in, or are you out?" _Had they been younger, Naruto wouldn't have been so calm and concerned about the answer. Had they been younger, Sasuke would've immediately said no and moved on with his life.

However, the fact was that they weren't as young as they used to be; they'd both grown, Naruto with his patience and bravery - while his own calmness and restless. So therefore his answer made perfect sense to him.

A pause and then-

"Yeah, I'm in."

Maybe he'd finally be able to have a good day.

* * *

_"I started from the bottom and now I'm rich_  
_I got in my bag and I ain't looked back since_  
_I started to say sorry, but fuck that shit_  
_You started out hatin', now you love my drip." _

_\- Iggy Azalea_

Finally, after a very long and serious consideration, Sakura decided that she _hated _skirts.

No, her red qipao did _not _count (technically she wore shorts underneath it), as it was essentially a dress and was very effective with both it's color and how it didn't get in the way of her work. Shoving people guts back into their bodies, was not a easy task, and the comfortable feeling of the qipao only made it easier for her. Then again, most of her assassination work was done in the color black, but when she was a nurse, red was her go to color (It hid bloodstains well, plus most people knew whom she was because of her clothing).

Skirts however, were absolutely horrible. They were short, much too short on her - reaching just up to her mid thigh and you never knew when they were going to fly up and expose you to the world. Not to mention, they really were uncomfortable to fight with and wearing pants underneath them just ruined the whole effect.

Yeah, so skirts were out of the question.

Sighing, the twenty four year old woman neatly folded the black skirt she had in-front of her, before placing it back into the closet it came from and pulling out a pair of her faux leather pants with small gold circles down the side. Placing it down next to her short black shirt and red leather vest, the girl let out a content smile at her outfit choice. Honestly, jeans would've been more appropriate for an event like this, but the last time she'd worn ripped jeans her brother had flipped out and wondered why the hell she was in a good mood. Not to mention, jeans were very rigid, and it wasn't something which was appreciated with her job. So yeah, all the jeans which she did have were either too small or much too uncomfortable.

So leather was the best option and to be honest, her ass looked damn fine in it, if she didn't say so herself.

After slipping on her outfit, the girl grabbed her comb and moved it through her hair, lamenting on how the ends now curled inwardly to her face, framing her cheekbones - a big difference from her old straight hair. Applying her usual mascara and tinted chapstick; as Sakura and makeup did not go together well, it always just ended up looking fake; the girl walked downstairs and grabbed her ankle length boots, before shooting off a quick text to Ino, letting her know that she was on her way.

"Sakura, you're leaving already?" Her brothers voice made her pause as she tried to settle her foot in the shoe. Turning to him and smiling, the young girl nodded her acceptance; watching how his face turned from calm to conflicted, his teeth biting down onto his lower lip.

"I...I can drop you off, you if you want?" The question was laced with concern, and another feeling, one which was much more hidden; but Sakura knew her younger brother, she knew how he worried about over the most stupidest things.

In fact, she wouldn't surprised if he was more tensed about this 'meeting' than her; and he wasn't even attending.

"It's fine Kimimaro," The pinkette said fondly, rolling her eyes as she reached up to ruffle his hair. "I'm taking the subway - it'll be good for me to get some excerisize." (Ignoring the fact that she worked out for five hours a day, but she needed an excuse anyways. Besides, the only only transportation which she trusted was her motorbike, and it was a bit of overkill to show up in that).

"Alright." The younger twin murmured, smiling back hesitantly as her sister smiled at him. "I'm guessing you don't need anything right?"

"Nope."

Pursing his lips, the boy shook his head once, before sighing and trying to fix his ruffled hair. "I'm going to stop talking now, or else I'll probably say something I don't mean to and offend you."

_**'Ah Kimimaro, still as awkward as the day I met you, neh?'**_

Sakura could still remember that day, she would never forget it; especially when it led her down towards the darkest and yet, brightest part of her life. The pinkette still wondered what would've happened if she hadn't taken that shortcut, if she hadn't been so busy wrapped up in her phone to notice the four people waiting silently at the edge of the corridor for her.

Sighing, the young girl shook her head. It didn't matter what may have been, all that matter was what was and what will be. The events which happened in the past weren't something which could be legally changed, and Sakura wasn't even sure she wanted to change them. After all, her brother gave his blood, chakra and tears to her (a random stranger at the time); and that was all that counted.

As a grin pulled at her lips, Sakura replied softly - her tone tinged with a certain hint of fondness. "Oh Kimimaro you idiot, get down here and give me a hug."

With no reluctance, the twenty four year old did just that, reaching down to grip his sister in a tight hug, his hands shaking behind his back. "Have fun okay? And just call me if you're bored - or if something happens. I'll be on my way before you say 'Tsunade - sama'."

The urge to roll her eyes was strong, however, the woman pushed the feeling down, before patting her brothers shoulder once. While he was an overprotective brat, he had a reason to be; before Haku came along, many nights it was Sakura herself who had to hold him as he cried from his nightmares and demons. Many nights, the pinkette would solemnly watched as her brother lost himself in the guilt of losing those whom he called family.

It made her feel an unreasonable amount of guilt - not only at the fact that she couldn't do anything to help him, but also because her own history wasn't half as bad as the rest of her team. When she compared the eight of their together, all the pinkette wanted to do was cry at the unfairness and injustice of the situation; however the world really was cruel, as it hurt the people who deserved it the least.

A long time ago, Sakura would've cried and supported them from the side. Now?

Touch her teammates and she would **annihilate** you.

Giving her brother one last pat on the shoulder, Sakura hitched her vest around her tighter, before heading out of her door her hair swinging at her neck; the polish on her shoes clicking away.

* * *

"So a little birdy told me that Sakura-chi came to you for emotional advice...my, my; I must have finally lost my mind."

Hinata's right eye twitched, as she stared straight forwards; determined to ignore her sensei. However, when it became apparent that he wouldn't quit prodding her, the twenty one year old woman turned to look at him - a single eyebrow of hers raised. "...Your mind has already been lost from all the drugs you are taking; after all, only psychopaths talk to birdies."

"Then you must speak to them all the time." Her sensei sneered back, watching as her smile went from blank to sharp in seconds. However, unlike her usual cruel gaze, a mischievous one formed in her right eye.

"Why yes sensei, their conversations do amuse me. After all, they were explaining how fun it would be to take your mask up and-"

"Alright, alright; you got me their." The thirty two year old replied quickly, his mask slipping down further on his face. "Damn it Hina - chan, where did my cute little kohai go?"

"Down in the gutter with the rest of your acting skills. And please, I was never 'cute'."

"So cold." Uchiha Obito said, shaking his head almost mockingly, before his faux tone of utter joy vanished and was replaced with his natural deep, gravely voice. "But I suppose I should expect that, after all, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Holding her flinch, the woman huffed and glared at the older man - her teeth baring as she snarled lightly. "Fuck off sensei. The only tree I came from was the tree of death; so you best watch yourself."

Chuckling slightly, the orange masked man shook his head before patting the younger girl on the head; as if they were discussing the weather, not exchanging threats. "There's our little tigress - I had wondered where she'd gone."

"She'd gone nowhere," Hinata replied, her muscles calming down as her urge to hit something reduced. After all, she'd only lose her energy and her wits if she tried to fight her idiotic sensei; the last time they did that one of the buildings crumbled, even after she made sure the secure the area (But the look on his face when she beat him was _so _worth it - although, Hinata would never admit that). "_She_ was only trying to rest from your inconsistent blabbering - one does get tired of your bull crap."

"Ahh touché." Ruffling her hair as a peace sign and offering her a smile behind his cover; the bluenette huffed slightly, before falling silent - her right eye trained on her silver mask in the corner.

"Who's coming with us again?" The twenty one year old asked, her left eyelid shut as she stared at her teacher - a calm gaze reflecting once more in her eye.

"Some rookies - and Yamato - kun. Tsunade - sama, thought that it would give them a good experience."

Hinata merely raised a single eyebrow and pursed her lips; as if wondering what made her leader think that it was a good idea to pair her up with children who had no idea of how the real world worked. Most of the time that she was with rookies, they ended up breaking down or covering in fear whenever she passed by. The bluenette would never understand why, as all she did was ask them to correct their forms, or else they'd die when preforming them. It seemed that wasn't something which you could explain to normal fifteen year olds, but she digressed. Besides, what did she know how normal people acted - she'd never been one herself.

Both the normal and the person.

"Let's move then." Yue murmured, forgoing her silver mask and reaching for the tiger striped one beside her, securing it on her face before talking once more. "I'll go gather Yamato. You grab the rookies, I'll meet you at the gate in two minutes."

With that, she was gone - her long raven hair whipping in his face as she trailed out the door; causing Tobi to sigh. Oh well, it seemed that his student would never change. With a savage smile breaking underneath his mask, Jaguar hoped out of the window, before heading his way towards the trainee training field.

It seemed that there was some fresh meat to sort out.

* * *

Sasuke scowled as he stared at the people around him, his head buzzing with irritation, but his mind sharp as sipped his flat beer - his onyx eyes twitching in irritation as another fangirl walked up to him. Really, it had been over ten years, didn't these girls ever grow up?

"Eh Sasuke! Still as antisocial as ever, I see!" A loud voice remarked, causing the onyx haired Uchiha to wince at the noise before turning to look at the person who intruded his thoughts.

"Inuzuka." His own voice was as level as always, causing the other man to frown before shaking his head.

"Geez, don't be such a buzz kill; anyways, I didn't expect that you'd be coming to the party."

Silence.

"After all, this really isn't your scene-"

More silence.

"Although the girls around here are pretty hot- you must enjoy that, don't you-"

His eyebrow twitched.

"Hey Kiba! Teme!" Another voice shot out from across the room, causing a wide smile to split across the Inuzuka's face and a forced groan to exit Sasuke's lips.

Blonde hair filled his view, as a whiskered cheeked and tanned skinned man came into his vision. A wide smile was split across the mans face, his 6'2 muscular body commanding attention as he cut through the crowd rapidly. However, in contrast with his energetic motions; his crystalline blue eyes were clear and murky; almost as if he was more than he seemed to be.

Moving to stand next to Sasuke, the blonde clapped his friend on the back, laughing at the Uchiha's disgruntled expression. "Sasuke! I've been looking for you everywhere, for a moment, I thought that you hadn't even come!"

"I was surprised too when I caught a whiff of Uchiha's chakra." Kiba added, after greeting Naruto. "It's been a while since he's come anywhere; I almost thought I was mistaken!"

As Naruto spoke his agreement, Sasuke snapped at the two of them - his brow furrowed as he wondered how the two idiots come be so stupid. "Idiots-" He hissed. "-don't talk about clan matters in a public area."

It was a known fact that anything to do with chakra or spiritual energy, was not something which was supposed to be mentioned outside of the comfort of the manors.

Chakra was eternal since the beginning of time. As the flow of life and the existence of mankind, it was something which was handled and used with the utmost reverence and respect. In the earlier years, when the first traces of humans were made, it was an object used to survive; one which everyone used. Manipulating chakra was almost a common thing to do, and no one thought much about it. However, as the years went on, science ruled over magic and more and more people found themselves giving up the use of chakra in order to fit into the society which was occurring. By the late 1700's chakra and it's powers were forgotten by more; the effects of the changing of time. However, a few people remembered the different ways of chakra; most of them descendants of the eight clans which still were held strong to this day.

The Hyuga, Uchiha, Uzumaki, Nara, Aburame, Inuzuka, Yamanaka and the Sarutobi.

All children whom grew up in these family were expected to learn the traits of their ancestors and to excel in them. If you didn't, you would then be alienated from the family and viewed in a monstrous or mistake-like fashion. At least, that was what Sasuke had learned, growing up; although that didn't seem to be the same for the Nara, Aburame, Yamanaka, Uzumaki or Sarutobi.

Who knew, maybe it was just an Uchiha thing?

"Yeah, yeah Teme; don't worry about it - I'm sure nobody would've overheard us. Even if they did, it's not like they'd understand." Naruto replied, his own energy crackling wildly like a firecracker - causing Sasuke's chakra to rise to the challenge.

"Woah, woah; if both of you want to spar then do it outside. I don't want to have to clean this place when you mess it up." The host of the party, Ino Yamanaka, replied as she sidled up to the pair; ducking underneath Kiba's arm to press a kiss to his cheek. "Hey Kiba."

"Babe." The Inuzuka replied, doing the same to her; causing Naruto to wrinkle his eyebrows in disgust.

"Ew. I see enough of that mushy gushy stuff at home; I don't need to see it here. Get a room both of you." The blonde teased, watching as the couple huffed and started to talk back; causing the three of them to fall into a light hearted banter, with Sasuke quietly in the back. Finally, after around a half hour, the couple moved away from the two of them - going to mingle with the others out in the dance floor.

"Come on then teme, let's go get a drink - maybe that will lighten you up!"

Wincing at his loud tone, Sasuke barely had a moment to brace himself, before he was being dragged across the room; a sigh dragging out of his lips as he looked at the blurred images around him. His eyesight, really was getting worse, but that was to be expected with his bloodline.

Absentmindedly sipping the punch _(which he was pretty sure had alcohol in it; he didn't know for sure what Naruto had given him), _the Uchiha groaned once more as he looked at the clock - watching as the numbers painstakingly crept by. Naruto had gone of to the bathroom, leaving him alone to his own brooding thoughts. A entire hour had passed since he'd come to the party, yet the object of his thoughts hadn't arrived yet, or so he knew. It wasn't as if he could search out her chakra either, as he didn't remember the feeling of it_(A lie, one which he told himself. It wasn't like he remembered the sweet flow her chakra held or the calmness the sparks in crackled. Or even how it pounced up around her skin whenever she was mad or upset. Most of all, he couldn't remember her smile - the last one which she'd shown him had been that night-there was no way he could remember the sadness in-) _

"Excuse me? Do you know the way to the middle hall?"

Breaking out of his thoughts at the voice which suddenly spoke out behind him - he was slightly unsettled and suspicious, other than Naruto, no one could manage to hide their chakra from him, even his brother was easy to track now - Sasuke turned his head slightly before calmly answering their question. A slight hint of disdain rose up in him; one which he tried to push down as fast as it came; as he realized that it was a female voice, seriously, couldn't these girls leave him alone? Was he really that interesting? _(He doubted it)_.

His mouth spoke, before his eyes saw. "Yeah- it's in the corner, near the end of the hallway-"

As he turned right, his voice died away as the color of green crept into his vision. Short pink hair led to pale skin and emerald green eyes; ones which stopped him right in his tracks with the flash of shock and familiarity which flashed through them - mirroring his own confusion. The words where on the tip of his tongue, however, alongside of the familiarity there was a certain tinge of difference causing his words to stumble around in his mouth.

"Wha-Sakura?"

* * *

_"Hope not to ever see heaven. _

_I have come to lead you to the other shore;_

_Into eternal darkness;_

_Into fire and into ice." _

_\- Inferno (Dante Alighieri)_

The sterile smell of medicine wafted through her nose as the distinct sound of silence could be heard in the hallways in which she walked; only furthering the irritation which had grown in her head. Her footsteps were soundless - her hair moving underneath her cloak and her mask the only thing you could see in the darkness. Two followed behind her - their footsteps clumsy in comparison to her own - and their fear radiating off of their bodies, causing them to shiver. Pausing at the end of the hallway and peering at how it split into two ends, Hinata merely cocked her head to the side, a move that made them twitch before moving left, leaving her alone at the dissection.

Watching until the shadows of their bodies disappeared from her view, the girl whirled around to the other side - her eyes glowing out from underneath her mask. She walked with ease, as if she was merely strolling in a well lit hall; then again, with her eyes any place was well lit. Her hands skimmed the ends of the walls, the clothed fingertips touching the indentations, almost trying to search for something. This continued on for a long time, before Hinata stopped at the sudden question which whirled around in her head.

_'Their's something near the east entrance - although I'm 79% sure that it's a hoax.' _Yamamoto's voice echoed in her head, causing her to briefly pause at the sudden increase of pain, before continuing on wards in her path - mentally marking the east from her brain.

**'Yeah. I checked that - there's nothing really their, other than the leftover experiments.' **The way her sensei worded the word experiment, caused Hinata to feel a pang of loneliness and empathy at that; for even her soulless heart could mourn those they were too late to save.

_'How are you handling the rookies, Tiger? Have they been giving you any trouble?" _

Realizing that the question had been aimed towards her she briefly replied, not letting her focus slip. **_'They behaved well enough. This group seems to have some gut, as they didn't breakdown or cry. I sent them off to explore the south.' _**

**'Alone? You're ruthless Hina - chan! They must be shitting themselves by now.'**

Invisibly rolling her eyes she scanned them over the smooth alabaster concrete in front of her. _**'Stop**** being over dramatic. I chakra scanned the south end, the most they'll encounter are some booby traps, and if they can't get out of those then they should be sent back to training.'**_

**'Ya. That doesn't excuse the fact that they'll be scared.' **Obito made it sound as if it was obvious, but to her, it just rose another question. Why? Why would they be scared?

Keeping quiet, she merely hummed underneath her breath before pausing at the second fork in the pathway in front of her. As she turned to take a right, her gut clenched causing her foot to hover over the spaces in front of her. Frowning once, she closed her eyes briefly as the waves underneath her skin surfaced - covering the area around her in a silvery gaze. Opening her eyes - her left flashed a gleaming red as her right one undertook a purple hue and her vision became sharper as every motion of the nothingness caught her attention. Biting her lips almost unprecedentedly, the twenty one year old scanned the floor watching as it glowed a distinct shade of gray.

"That's odd." She whispered underneath her breath and strained her eyesight; surprised when she couldn't see father than that. "What?"

Leaning down, Hinata skimmed over the floor her hand trembling as the sudden increase of pressure fell on her shoulders. Her breath involuntarily quickened, causing her to reign it back in as she finally moved forwards, directly onto the yellow. The result was instantaneous, the yellow glow which came from the ground brightened, before it split into two - one part rushing directly towards her. On instinct, she jumped to the walls, watching as it stuttered, before heading towards her once more - causing her eyes to widen in curiosity as she jumped back to her place in the intersection. Their was no fear only wonder in her gaze as the yellow glow stopped, before pooling at her feet, not moving past the intersection which she'd jumped behind.

Huh, so it couldn't move past the entrance?

Briefly, Hinata wondered what would happen if she set it on fire, however burning down the building wasn't something she was looking forwards to. This place wasn't somewhere which was safe for playing around, who knew that Orochimaru planted around these labs? Fighting was easy enough, as she was sure she could handle taking care of these, whatever these were, easily enough. After all, they were inside the floor weren't they, so all she had to do was insert her own chakra into the walls; it'd do her job for her, as her chakra was poisonous to others.

However as she let her own silver source enter the yellow, the strangest thing happened. Enveloping the silver with a flash, the yellow energy grew brighter - the shine almost blinding Hinata's sensitive eyes. Leaping back on instinct, the girl watched as the flash faded away and the chakra rearranged itself, falling into a line shaped path forwards.

That. That was unexpected.

Chakra was the source of energy in a human - and while many thought it was the same in every person, that fact was far from the truth. A persons chakra varied depending on three things, their skill, their bloodline and most importantly their demons, whether they be past, present or future. With Hinata, her chakra was so tainted that the idea that something was able to absorb it left her in a state of shock which she hadn't felt in a while. That shock faded as soon as it came and her eyes sharpened as she forewent her previous thoughts and lowered her shield.

It was almost unintentional when she moved forward, her hands now placed on the floor of the room. When the substance didn't move closer to her hand, she instead frowned and walked forwards, realizing that she really wasn't as concerned as she should've been. Peering back at the hallway behind her briefly, she shook of the eerie silence which surrounded her, and instead moved against the light her mind still stuck on the fact that something was off. Terribly, terribly, off.

Her feet moved in silence and her back was as straight as a ramrod, her eyes flitting around, not staying in one place for too long. The end of her fingers trailed the wall beside her as she tentatively reached around, letting the slow pit in her stomach simmer. However, it was only when she reached the end of the hallway that she let her gaze pause for a moment, before staring at the sudden change in front of her.

As she entered a circular room, the yellow chakra which she'd been following bolted around the room, dividing up so that parts of it were in different places - making some pieces of the wall glow an eerie yellow. Keeping her hidden eye on the substance _(while she did end up calling 'it' chakra in her mind, it still felt different. Unlike the powerful crackling or soothing flow that chakra often emitted; this feeling wasn't something which she could describe in words. Melancholic and yet, dangerous. It seemed too similar to her own, in order for it not to be unsettling)._

Snorting bemusedly, she stared at three doors in front of her her eyes quirking upwards as her mind briefly wondered why in the world would the most evil person in the fucking world _(not that he wasn't intelligent, because honestly, as much as she wanted to rip every single bone out of his body and tear his skin, she had to admit that he was a genius. Underestimating people only got you killed, after all)_ would pull something out of a book. What was she in, a fairy tale? Nothing else made sense when the cliche theme of three doors was staring her in the face.

_Τρεις πόρτες από την κόλαση. Κάποιος οδηγεί στη φωτιά. Κάποιος οδηγεί σε πάγο. Η άλλη είναι η οδυνηρή αλήθεια. Ποιο είναι ποιο?_

"What language is this?" She whispered softly, trailing it with her hand softly.

Suddenly her 15+ language skill didn't seem to help her all that much. With her eye glowing brighter than before, the bluenette looked behind each of the doors - only to see the same copy in each of the rooms, traveling as far as she could see. Her mind became puzzled as she took in her disbelief briefly, before calming herself down. While it would be normal for the three rooms to be similar, the idea that they were identical was not one which she could accept. The fact that their was no sound anywhere only amplified her hearing, causing her breath to cut back as well.

Her first thought was to shadow clone herself, she had enough chakra and it was the fastest solution. Her gut clenched as she thought over that answer and instantly she disregarded it, as anything her gut thought fishy was fishy. Slightly unnerved by her sudden nonacceptance, she hummed as she rolled on her feet; her mind buzzing for answers. It was only a few moments later that a thought struck her - causing her eyes to widen as she swore softly underneath her breath. Her idea had a 0.1% chance of being true, especially considering the fact that it went back for years and years; but something inside of her nagged her until she couldn't take it anymore.

Taking a step back, Hinata stared in front of her - before muttering a small incantation, one which sent a pulse of energy behind each of the doors.

By sending the chakra in, a part of her energy would be in the rooms, making it easier for her to sense a slight bit of what was happening. Unlike Sakura, whom with a single sliver of her chakra could fully understand what was happening and what had happened before, her own ability of feelings hindered her ability to feel others emotions. It was a con, but one she was willing to give up in order to get the job done.

The moment only one of her pulses came back, she smiled. However, it wasn't a nice smile. No, it was rather the grim smile of someone who was right and knew it for a fact. So it was true, two of them were a Genjutsu while one was a real hallway. Her lips frowned and her hands clenched by her side. She'd have to get her eye checked, if this was really the truth then something strange must've happened. Either that or...? Her teeth clenched. Trust the fucking snake to create something just to block her out. By this point her shock was rising steadily alongside of the twisting feeling in her gut. The air turned dense as she breathed deeply, trying to calm the sudden increase in her headache.

Moving forwards, the girl surged to open the door that was in front of her...only to pause in confusion. Why was she trying to open it again? Her eyes blinked as she took in the room once more, before turning around rapidly, only to find the empty space stare right back at her. Her eyes narrowed as her brain somehow whirled in questions. What was she doing here again?

The more she thought about it, the worse her headache became, covering her temples with a sudden pounding which brought her back to seven years ago, when she'd first appeared in the end. Her right eye began to throb, as she struggled to keep it open; panic flaring underneath the calm indifference in her skin. Numbness seeped up her veins as her body began to droop slightly. With a sudden burst of energy and will, Hinata yanked her tiger mask off and snapped open her left eye the sudden pain breaking her out of her daze just enough for her to clear her mind and fall sharply towards the ground; her knees hitting the stone with a sharp pang. Her left eye whirled to life, as two tomoe formed in the pupil of the eye, making her sight clearer and the pangs in her own head, less. Her right eye fell shut and Hinata could feel hot trickles falling down her cheek and dripping onto her clothes. With her headache now fading into the background, the bluenette scanned the room quickly, committing it to her memory, before moving towards the center door, entering it as it opened with her touch.

What followed her next was a hallway of darkness and the shutting of a door.

* * *

**...**

**This is short. And late. **

**I really don't have any excuses, I just didn't feel the urge to write, so I kinda almost dropped this story. However, I finally got off my ass and began to write and viola here is the results of my work. I'm sorry that it's so short, I'll try to make sure that the next one is longer. **

**Bye for now! **

**~ Titania of Fairies**


End file.
